At the start of an spy test, imprisoned Wall Street Journal columnist Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Russian court on Wednesday and is facing a nearly certain faith.
That could lead to an eventual swap, as Russian authorities have stated that discussions on a potential change offer may only occur following a court decision.
When Gershkovich, 32, was detained in the Southeast town of Yekaterinburg during a reporting journey in March of last year, he and the paper denied allegations that the Russian Federal Security Service had been spying for the CIA. It’s the first moment since the Cold War that Russia has put a U. S. writer on trial for admitted spy, which you have a 20- time sentence.
Behind closed doors, the town’s Sverdlovsk Regional Court held the reading. The next hearing in the case was scheduled for Aug. 13, according to Interfax news services, which cited the jury. Although Russian tests almost always result in the faith of the accused, it’s unclear how long the trial will go on or when the ruling will be rendered.
The test “is cruel to Evan and a culmination of this travesty of justice that has already gone on for far too long,” the judge declared. Emma Tucker, the WSJ Editor-in-Chief, stated in a email to readers that was released on Tuesday. ” This false accusation of spying will unavoidably lead to a false faith for an honest man who could face up to 20 years in prison for merely doing his career,” he said.
The State Department has officially concluded that Gershkovich was being held without cause, allowing the United States to communicate with him.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, told foreign media on June 5 that the two countries ‘ intelligence services were in touch and that the United States was working hard to get the reporter’s transfer.
In an interview with British media character Tucker Carlson in February, Putin said “certain problems” were being discussed to relieve Gershkovich, and alluded to the event of a man he called a “patriot” who was jailed for death in a Western country. That made no affluence of Vadim Krasikov, who is currently serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 murder of a previous Chechen rebel in Berlin.
Russia has recently suggested it’s seeking Krasikov’s returning in prisoner- switch deals.
In 2022, American WNBA superstar Brittney Griner was traded for infamous Russian arms trader Viktor Bout. Previous U.S. Marine Paul Whelan is still imprisoned after receiving a 16-year prison sentence in 2020 for alleged eavesdropping. Whelan was detained in December 2018 while attending a ceremony in Moscow.
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