Moscow court rejects appeal of US journalist accused of espionage against pre-trial detention

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Moscow City Court rejected on Tuesday an appeal against the pre-trial detention of a US Wall Street Journal reporter arrested on espionage charges.

Evan Gershkovish "will remain in custody till March 30, 2024," the court said in a statement.

The court hearing was held in closed session because the case against Gershkovich contains classified data.

Gershkovich, a US citizen who worked as a reporter at the Journal’s Moscow bureau, was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service in the city of Yekaterinburg in March last year on espionage charges.

The Russian Federal Security Service claimed that he was caught "red-handed" in the process of collecting secret information.

In a Feb. 9 interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, President Vladimir Putin said Gershkovich may be freed if there are reciprocal steps. He hinted that Russia would like to see Russian national Vadim Krasikov, sentenced in 2021 in Germany to life for the 2019 murder in Berlin of Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, set free.

"There is no taboo to settle the issue. We are willing to solve it, but there are certain terms being discussed via special services channels. I believe an agreement can be reached," he said.