American journalist Evan Gershkovich was back in a Russian court Thursday for the second hearing in what is widely seen as a sham trial.
Media had no access to the courtroom in Yekaterinburg, and Gershkovich, 32, was not seen.
The Wall Street Journal reporter, who was first detained in the eastern city in March 2023, is accused of espionage. Russia has not provided any evidence to substantiate that claim.
Gershkovich, his publisher and the United States all deny the charge. Media groups say the claims are baseless and that the trial is a sham. The United States has also declared Gershkovich wrongfully detained.
The court said that closing arguments are set to take place on Friday.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield this week told Russia’s foreign minister that Russian President Vladimir Putin must free Gershkovich and other detained Americans.
Addressing the U.N. Security Council, Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. will not rest until Russia ceases its “barbaric practice of holding human pawns.”
Russia is also detaining former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and American Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
Kurmasheva, a Prague-based editor for VOA sister network Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, marked nine months in custody on Thursday.
She has been denied U.S. consular access and contact with her two young daughters.
Russia accuses Kurmasheva of failing to register as a so-called foreign agent. The journalist and her network reject the charge.
“We believe the charges are completely false. We believe this whole thing is a sham, and at the end of the day, the people who are paying the greatest price is this small family,” Stephen Capus, president of RFE/RL, told VOA. “They’re not shutting down RFE/RL by imprisoning Alsu. They’re not stopping our feeds by imprisoning Alsu. What they are doing, they’re taking two teenage girls and saying you can’t have access to your mom.”
Kurmasheva had traveled to Russia in May 2023 to care for her elderly mother. Authorities prevented her from returning to the Czech Republic and confiscated her travel documents.
In October, she was taken into custody.
In Gershkovich’s case, the reporter was detained while on assignment. Russia's prosecutor general’s office says the reporter is accused of “gathering secret information” on orders from the CIA about a factory that produces military equipment.
The Journal and U.S. officials say the claims are fabricated.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said last month that the U.S. government has never employed Gershkovich.
“Evan is not a spy. Journalism is not a crime. And Evan should never have been detained in the first place,” Kirby said.
If convicted, Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison.
Gulnoza Said, Europe and Central Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, earlier described the trial as a “travesty of justice.”
“The charges brought against him are spurious and unsubstantiated, and the whole thing is just a masquerade,” Said told VOA.
Russia’s foreign minister was cited in Russian state media as saying Moscow and Washington intelligence services are negotiating a prisoner swap.
But Moscow has signaled earlier that it first wants a verdict in the case, which is widely viewed as baseless.
Russia in recent weeks has issued more arrest warrants and convictions in absentia to local and foreign journalists outside its borders.
Russia is also issuing warrants and convictions in absentia to journalists over their coverage of Ukraine. Among them is Moscow-born U.S. journalist Masha Gessen.
A Moscow court on Monday convicted Gessen in absentia of spreading false information about the Russian military and handed down an eight-year prison sentence.
The staff writer for The New Yorker and columnist for The New York Times is a prominent critic of Putin.
Media watchdogs say Russia has a dire record for jailing journalists, with 22 detained as of late 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Nearly all of those in custody are foreign nationals.
Cristina Caicedo Smit, Liam Scott and Jessica Jerreat contributed to this report
