EVAN Gershkovich’s sham trial for bogus espionage charges has begun in Russia today with the journalist standing tall in court.
The innocent American, 32, appeared in a glass cage with a shaved head and smiled for cameras before the press were booted out.
AFPWall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich smiles from inside a glass cage on the first day of his sham trial this morning[/caption]
APEvan Gershkovich appeared with a newly shaved head in the Sverdlovsk courthouse[/caption]
APPress were allowed inside the court room for only a few minutes today[/caption]
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan has been wrongly accused by Vladimir Putin’s crooks of collecting “secret information” for the CIA.
The sham trial will be held behind closed doors in Yekaterinburg after repeated delays since his arrest in March 2023.
Evan was arrested while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg and has been held in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison ever since.
He has spent almost 15 months behind bars and faces a further 20 years in prison if found guilty.
Gershkovich was the first Western journalist since the Soviet era to be arrested for spying in Russia.
A small group of journalists were allowed inside the Sverdlovsk courthouse this morning, a thousand miles from St Petersburg, to see him before proceedings began.
Evan made no comment from inside the metal and glass box known in Russian courts as an “aquarium”.
It was the only time journalists will be allowed inside the room during his sham trial.
A few weeks ago Russia accused him of working for the CIA and “collecting secret information” about Uralvagonzavod, a military facility in the Sverdlovsk region.
It was the first time Putin’s authorities had revealed the details of their accusations against Gershkovich – after saying only that he was “caught red-handed”.
Gershkovich, his family, his employer and the US have vehemently denied all charges against him – insisting the journalist was just simply doing his job.
Washington said the charges have “zero credibility” and the Wall Street Journal slammed Russia’s announcement of a “sham trial” as “outrageous”.
His wrongful detention is a blow to press freedom, and it should matter to anyone who values free society. We will not rest until he is free
Emma Tucker, Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief
The Wall Street Journal’s chief editor Emma Tucker and top executives said: “Evan Gershkovich is facing a false and baseless charge.
“Russia’s latest move toward a sham trial is, while expected, deeply disappointing and still no less outrageous.”
After news of his upcoming sham trial, Tucker said: “His wrongful detention is a blow to press freedom, and it should matter to anyone who values free society.
“We will not rest until he is free.”
The US last year declared Gershkovich “wrongfully detained” – meaning the White House regards him as a political hostage.
“We have been clear from the start that Evan has done nothing wrong,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
“He should never have been arrested in the first place.
“The charges against him are false, and the Russian government knows that they are false. He should be released immediately.”
Timeline of Evan Gershkovich’s detainment
FALSELY jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained on baseless accusations of espionage since March, 2023.
Here is a timeline of key events:
Russia’s security service, the FSB, charged him with espionage – a charge that he, the WSJ and the US government deny.
They argue – without evidence – that he collected “information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
Day 12: April 10, 2023 – The US designated Gershkovich wrongfully detained and launched effort on Russia to free him.
Day 20: April 18, 2023 – A Moscow court upheld his pre-trial detention, denied him bail and ordered him to be held in the capital’s infamous Lefortovo prison.
Day 55: May 23, 2023 – Gershkovich’s detention was extended until at least August 30.
His parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, travelled to the hearing and said “any parents who loves their kid would travel to the end of the world to be with them for give minutes.”
Day 76: June 13, 2023 – The White House called on Russia to immediately free Gershkovich and also free former US marine Paul Whelan, who was convicted of espionage in 2020.
Day 85: June 22, 2023 – A Moscow court upheld the extension of Gershkovich’s detention until at least August 30.
Day 100: July 7, 2023 – The world’s press stood for solidarity with the reporter as his shameful detention reached 100 days.
Day 174: September, 19, 2023 – Gershkovich had another appeal for freedom blocked.
Day 195: October 10, 2023 – The US reporter had yet another appeal denied which would see his detention extended until at least November 30.
Day 244: November 28, 2023 – A court ruled Gershkovich would remain in pre-trial detention until at least January 30.
Day 303: January 26, 2024 – The innocent journalist’s time behind bars was extended until the end of March.
Day 316: February 8, 2024 – Vladimir Putin tells US TV host Tucker Carlson a deal could be reached between Russia and the US over Gershkovich.
Day 363: March 26, 2024: Gershkovich’s detention will drag on until June 30 as he nears one year behind bars.
Day 442: June 13, 2024: Russian authorities announce he will stand trial over bogus accusations that the reporter was spying for the CIA
Day 455: June 26, 2024: Closed-door sham trial begins in Yekaterinburg at the Sverdlovsk courthouse with Evan appearing inside a glass cage
In February, Putin, 71, said he would like to see Gershkovich freed as part of a prisoner exchange and that talks were ongoing.
But the Russian tyrant made clear he wanted any deal to involve the release of a Russian jailed in Germany for killing a Chechen dissident, assumed to be Vadim Krasikov.
He is serving a life sentence for the 2019 killing in Berlin of a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent.
The Kremlin has said there has been “contact” with the US on a possible exchange involving Gershkovich.
“But they (talks) need to be held in total silence,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Gershkovich being escorted out of the Lefortovsky court in Moscow in January