In a setback to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, the Russian prosecutor’s office announced Thursday he will stand trial on espionage charges, officially ending any future pre-detention appeals.
“The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation has approved an indictment in the criminal case against US citizen Evan Gershkovich,” the office said in a statement. “The criminal case has been sent to the Sverdlovsk Regional Court for consideration on the merits.”
It continued, “The investigation established and documented that the American journalist of The Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich, on the instructions of the CIA in March 2023, collected secret information in the Sverdlovsk region about the activities of the defense enterprise JSC NPK Uralvagonzavod for the production and repair of military equipment.”
Gershkovich has denied he was involved in any espionage and the U.S. State Department has declared him to be wrongfully detained.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court, in Moscow, Dec. 14, 2023.
Dmitry Serebryakov/AP, FILE
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