The next court appearance for American journalist Evan Gershkovich is now set for Thursday as Russia reschedules what is widely seen as a sham trial.
Gershkovich had originally been due in court August 13, but on Tuesday Russia announced it was moving the hearing to July 18.
Gershkovich, a reporter with The Wall Street Journal, has been jailed in Russia since March 2023 on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny. The State Department has declared him wrongfully detained.
“This is a sham trial that should never have taken place, just as Evan never should have been arrested. The sooner it’s over, the better. Journalism is not a crime, and Evan should be released now,” The Journal told VOA in a statement on Tuesday.
The Russian government has not publicly provided any evidence to substantiate the charges against Gershkovich.
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to a VOA email requesting comment.
Gershkovich’s trial began June 26 and is taking place behind closed doors in the city of Yekaterinburg, where he was initially detained. The Ural Mountains city is about 1,400 kilometers east of Moscow.
Press freedom experts have condemned the trial as a politically motivated sham.
“It’s a travesty of justice. The charges brought against him are spurious and unsubstantiated, and the whole thing is just a masquerade,” Gulnoza Said, the Europe and Central Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, told VOA in June shortly before the trial began.
If convicted, Gershkovich, 32, faces up to 20 years behind bars; however, prisoner swap negotiations between Moscow and Washington have been taking place for months.
U.S. diplomats were briefly present at the courthouse for the first hearing before the proceedings began. It is not clear whether U.S. diplomats will be permitted to attend this week’s hearing.
Gershkovich is one of two American journalists jailed in Russia.
The second is Prague-based Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor at VOA sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The dual U.S.-Russian national has been jailed since October 2023 on charges of failing to self-register as a “foreign agent” and spreading what Moscow views as false information about the Russian military.
Kurmasheva, 47, rejects the charges, which carry a combined sentence of 15 years in prison. The U.S. government has also called for her immediate release.
“We remain deeply concerned about Alsu Kurmasheva’s detention in Russia,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA in a statement on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Kurmasheva will mark nine months behind bars.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices. Healthy democracies do not undertake such steps,” the State Department spokesperson added. “The charges against Ms. Kurmasheva are another sign of the weakness of Putin’s regime.”
Some information in this report came from Reuters.
