Russian authorities have indicated that jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich will soon stand trial in Yekaterinburg, more than a year after his arrest on espionage charges that Gershkovich, his employers and the White House have contended are politically motivated.
Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison since last March in the highest-profile case of an American journalist arrested in Russia since the Cold War.
Details of the charges are being kept secret. In a rare statement on the case, Russia’s prosecutor general said Gershkovich was charged with collecting information about arms factories that make and repair tanks, other armoured vehicles and munitions.
“Evan Gershkovich faces false and unfounded charges,” Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour and Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker said in a statement. “The latest moves toward a Russian sham trial are unexpected, yet disappointing and outrageous. Evan has been wrongfully held in a Russian prison for 441 days simply doing his job. Evan is a journalist. The Russian regime’s smear of Evan is repulsive, disgusting and based on calculated and obvious lies.”
“Evan’s case is an attack on press freedom,” the statement continued. “We continue to demand his immediate release. We had hoped to avoid this moment, but now hope that the U.S. government will redouble its efforts to secure Evan’s release.”
Prosecutors did not present any evidence to support the charges.
“The investigation revealed and documented that in March 2023, American journalist Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal, at the direction of the CIA, collected secret information on the activities of defense companies in the Sverdlovsk region… [at] Uralvagonzavod [industrial complex] “Mr. Gershkovich carried out illegal activities for the manufacture and repair of military equipment,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. “The illegal activities were carried out in accordance with careful measures of secrecy.”
Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 during a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg. He had been authorized by the Russian Foreign Ministry to operate in the country. His arrest sparked protests and rallies by colleagues around the world.
A spokesman for Russia’s prosecutor’s office said an investigation by Russia’s security service, the FSB, had been completed and the criminal case had been sent to the Sverdlovsk Regional Court, a precursor to a criminal trial. Gershkovich is expected to be transferred from Moscow to the region before the trial begins. The maximum sentence is 25 years in prison.
In a recent interview with US commentator Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested he was considering swapping Mr Gershkovich for Vadim Krasikov, a senior FSB official serving a life sentence in a German prison for the 2019 murder of an opponent of the Russian regime in Berlin’s Tiergarten park.
“We are not ruling out negotiations,” Putin said, “Moreover, negotiations are ongoing and there are many cases where agreements have been reached. An agreement can be reached now, but it is only necessary to reach an agreement.”
Both Russia and the United States say talks are underway for a prisoner swap to free Gershkovich. Previously, jailed Americans have been freed in exchange for high-profile Russian prisoners, including convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.
“We are encouraged that Russia is willing to reach an agreement to bring Evan home and hope this will lead to his swift release and return to his family and our newsroom,” The Wall Street Journal said in response to Putin’s interview. “Evan is a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. Any portrayal to the contrary is a complete fabrication…Evan was wrongfully arrested and has been wrongfully held by Russia for nearly a year for doing his job, and we continue to demand his immediate release.”
