Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is on trial on spying charges in Russia. File | Photo credit: Reuters
American journalist Evan Gershkovich was tried in Russia on June 26 on espionage charges, which he denies. Here’s a quick guide to his case.
Who is Evan Gershkovich?
Mr. Gershkovich is a 32-year-old American who grew up in New Jersey, the son of Soviet parents who emigrated to the United States in 1979. He joined the Wall Street Journal in January 2022 and was among a small number of Western journalists to continue reporting from Russia after the massive invasion of Ukraine in February that year.
When and why was he arrested?
The FSB security service arrested him on March 29, 2023 at a steakhouse in the city of Yekaterinburg, where he was on a reporting trip.
He was charged with espionage, which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Prosecutors allege that he gathered information on Uralvagonzavod, a Russian company that makes tanks for the war in Ukraine, on orders from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Since his arrest, he has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison for almost 16 months.
Mr. Gershkovich and the Wall Street Journal protests vehemently against his innocence. They say he was doing his job as a reporter accredited by the Russian Foreign Ministry to work there. The WJ says the trial is a sham and a guilty verdict is a foregone conclusion.
What does the Kremlin say?
The Kremlin says the case is a legal, not political, issue, but has claimed from the start – without providing evidence – that Mr Gershkovich was caught red-handed.
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is open to a possible prisoner exchange with the United States involving Gershkovich, and that contacts have taken place but must remain secret.
What is the US position?
Washington says Russia is using Mr. Gershkovich as a bargaining chip and should immediately release him and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who was convicted in 2020 and is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage. It has labeled both men as “wrongfully detained”.
What will the trial look like?
The trial takes place behind closed doors, which means that the proceedings are secret and that the lawyers must sign non-disclosure agreements. No press, family members or U.S. Embassy officials are being allowed in, although two U.S. consular staff traveled to Yekaterinburg before the start of the case and had brief access to Mr. Gershkovich before it began.
Wednesday’s hearing concluded after several hours and the next one is on August 13, an indication that the case will drag on for several more months.
Evgeni Smirnov, a lawyer specializing in cases of treason and espionage, said there is no precedent in Putin’s Russia for a suspect in an espionage case to be acquitted by the court.
But if Mr. Gershkovich is found guilty, it could pave the way for a prisoner-swap deal — something Russia said very early in its case could only happen after a trial had taken place.
Judge Andrei Minejev is handling the case. He is the son of a police officer and has worked in the legal system for thirty years. He is also presiding over the treason trial opened this month of Ksenia Karelina, a US-Russian dual national accused of donating money to the Ukrainian armed forces.
In a 2021 interview, he said he had only seen “three or four” acquittals in his career. “The system is organized in such a way that cases against innocent and uninvolved people ideally do not come to court at all. That’s why the percentage is so small. There is nothing wrong with that,” he said.
