Court completes espionage case against WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich in two sessions; debate and verdict remain

The Sverdlovsk Regional Court has completed the trial of the espionage case against Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich. RIA Novosti reports this with reference to the court's press service.

There were only two hearings in the Gershkovich case - on June 26 and July 18. Both were held behind closed doors. The parties will begin their arguments tomorrow.

According to It's My City , on July 19, the state prosecution will request a term for Gershkovich. The publication writes that at the hearing on June 26, no witnesses were questioned, and today only one witness left the courtroom - Vyacheslav Wegner, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Sverdlovsk Region. After the journalist's arrest, he said that Gershkovich interviewed him, during which he asked about people's attitudes toward the Wagner PMC and the work of industrial enterprises. Wegner refused to explain to RIA Novosti which side he was a witness for - the defense or the prosecution.

Initially, the second hearing in the Gershkovich case was supposed to take place on August 13, but, as Mediazona has learned , at the request of the journalist’s defense, it was postponed to July 18.

Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 in Yekaterinburg, shortly after he visited Nizhny Tagil, where Uralvagonzavod is located. The journalist was transferred to Moscow and placed in the Lefortovo pretrial detention center.

On June 13, the Prosecutor General's Office brought the final charges against Gershkovich. According to the FSB, he was "on assignment from the CIA" collecting data on the activities of the defense company Uralvagonzavod. On June 17, the journalist's case was sent to the Sverdlovsk Regional Court.

US President Joe Biden promised to seek Gershkovich's release. After Alexei Navalny's murder, the WSJ wrote that Washington's negotiations with Moscow had not moved forward, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lobbied to include the Russian opposition leader in the deal — it was proposed to exchange him for FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, convicted in Germany. The exchange did not take place due to Navalny's death.

In March 2024, Biden said the United States would continue to seek the journalist's release. On July 17, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russian and American intelligence agencies were discussing the possibility of exchanging Gershkovich.