Russian prosecutors on Thursday announced a major step forward in the case against jailed U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, saying they had completed an espionage indictment against him and would stand trial in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, He was arrested there for more than a year.
Yevgeny Smirnov, a Russian lawyer who has handled similar cases, said Gershkovich, 32, should be moved from Moscow’s notorious high-security Lefortovo prison to a prison a short distance from the Russian capital The trial took place in the city about 880 miles east.
Smirnov said in a telephone interview that when such espionage cases go to trial in Russia, they usually take about four months but can take up to a year and are usually closed to the news media. If convicted, Gershkovic faces up to 20 years in prison.
Mr. Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government deny the charges against him. The U.S. government designated Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained,” which effectively meant that the U.S. government considered him a political prisoner.
Russian authorities have said in the past that they might be open to a prisoner exchange for Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich, but only if his case is concluded.
President Vladimir V. Putin said during a meeting with representatives of international news agencies that Russian and U.S. intelligence agencies were “in contact on this issue.”
“These issues absolutely must be resolved on the basis of reciprocity,” Putin said of any potential prisoner swap involving Gershkovic.
Gershkovic is the first American journalist to be arrested on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War, and his detention underscores the extent to which Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has damaged relations between Moscow and Washington.
Prosecutors said in a statement that they had determined that “on instructions from the CIA” and “using painstaking conspiracy tactics” Gershkovich “was gathering information” about a company in the Sverdlovsk region that produces tanks and Secret messages from other weapons factories.
The prosecutor’s statement marked the first time a Russian state representative revealed details of the charges against Gershkovic. The statement provided no evidence to support the allegations.
Smirnov said that in this case, the Russian security services decide what information constitutes classified information and what does not. He said the defense could not challenge their claims.
“It is clear to us that he was imprisoned in exchange,” Smirnov said of Gershkovic. He added that the trial could be expedited to allow for a quicker verdict based on secret negotiations over any possible prisoner exchange.
Gershkovich is one of several U.S. citizens detained in Russia in recent years, and his case has raised concerns that the Kremlin is seeking to use U.S. citizens as bargaining chips in exchange for Russians being held in the West. people.
Others include former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty editor Alsu Kurmasheva. Last week, a Russian court sentenced Russian-American Yuri Maleev to three and a half years in a penal colony after he criticized Russia, its leadership and the war in Ukraine on social media.
