{"id":2284039,"date":"2024-06-26T14:23:59","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T18:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wall-street-journal-reporter-evan-gershkovich-goes-on-trial-in-russia-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-06-26T14:27:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T18:27:40","slug":"wall-street-journal-reporter-evan-gershkovich-goes-on-trial-in-russia-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wall-street-journal-reporter-evan-gershkovich-goes-on-trial-in-russia-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich goes on trial in Russia &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwall-street-journal-reporter-evan-gershkovich-goes-on-trial-in-russia-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2284039&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is currently on trial in Yekaterinburg, Russia, facing \u2063espionage charges,\u2063 which he and\u200c others strongly deny. Arrested\u200b over \u200da \u2062year ago while reporting from the Ural Mountains, \u2064Gershkovich has \u2064been accused of gathering secrets for the U.S. without evidence \u200cbeing \u200dpresented by the Russian authorities. The trial, \u2062largely \u200dheld \u200dbehind closed doors, could lead to a\u2062 verdict in \u2062months, with Russian officials hinting at a possible prisoner swap post-verdict. Details \u200bof his arrest connect\u2063 to accusations \u2062of him collecting information from a military-related plant, Uralvagonzavod. The U.S. government has\u2062 declared him wrongfully detained,\u200b and prominent figures and organizations have \u200dcondemned the \u2062trial as unjust, worrying about the implications for press freedom and the chilling effect \u2064on journalism in Russia.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/falsely-accused-wall-street-journal-reporter-evan-gershkovich-appears-before-russian-court-b1b155a8?mod=hp_lead_pos7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Wall Street Journal\">Wall Street Journal<\/a> reporter Evan Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors in Yekaterinburg on Wednesday, 15 months after his arrest in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Russian\">Russian<\/a> city on <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/espionage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>espionage<\/a> charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny.<\/p>\n<p>The 32-year-old <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/journalists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>journalist<\/a> appeared in the court in a glass defendants\u2019 cage, his head shaved and wearing a black-and-blue plaid shirt. A yellow padlock latched the cage.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities arrested Gershkovich on March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains, and claimed without offering any evidence that he was gathering secret information for the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>Russia has signaled the possibility of a prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, but it says a verdict \u2014 which could take months \u2014 would have to come first. Even after a verdict, it still could take months or years.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div>\n<blockquote data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just seen Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who goes on trial today in Yekaterinburg. Emma Tucker, editor in chief of the WSJ writes: \u201cThis bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man who would then face up to 20 years\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kWSjAeabGK\">pic.twitter.com\/kWSjAeabGK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBCSteveR\/status\/1805841559763537951?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Journalists were allowed into the courtroom for a few minutes Wednesday before the proceedings were closed. Also briefly permitted in court were two consular officers from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, according to the embassy. The White House said the officials were not able to speak with Gershkovich.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing ended after about two hours, and the next one was scheduled for Aug. 13, court officials said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday our colleague Evan Gershkovich faced the Russian regime\u2019s shameful and illegitimate proceedings against him,\u201d said Almar Latour, Dow Jones CEO and publisher of the Journal, and Emma Tucker, its top editor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s jarring to see him in yet another courtroom for a sham trial held in secret and based on fabricated accusations,\u201d the statement said. \u201cWhile we are told he\u2019s doing well given the circumstances, Evan\u2019s wrongful detention continues to be a devastating assault on his freedom and his work and an unfathomable attack on the free press.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They noted he has already spent 455 days behind bars.<\/p>\n<p>A top White House spokesman called the proceedings \u201cnothing more than a sham trial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvan has never been employed by the United States government. Evan is not a spy. Journalism is not a crime. And Evan should never have been detained in the first place,\u201d White House national security spokesman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstpost.com\/world\/us-doing-everything-to-free-journalists-captured-in-russia-for-espionage-13786512.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"John Kirby said Wednesday\">John Kirby said Wednesday<\/a>. \u201cRussia has failed to justify Evan\u2019s continued detention. He, like fellow American Paul Whelan, is simply being used as a bargaining chip.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The American-born son of immigrants from the USSR, Gershkovich is the first Western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia. The State Department has declared him \u201cwrongfully detained,\u201d thereby committing the government to assertively seek his release.<\/p>\n<p>The Journal has worked to keep the case in the public eye and it has become an issue in the months leading up to the U.S. presidential election.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Yekaterinburg, Russia. (AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After his arrest, Gershkovich was held in Moscow\u2019s notoriously dismal Lefortovo Prison. He has appeared healthy during court hearings in which his appeals for release have been rejected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvan has displayed remarkable resilience and strength in the face of this grim situation,\u201d U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy said on the first anniversary of his arrest.<\/p>\n<p>Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison if the court finds him guilty, which is almost certain. Russian courts convict more than 99% of the defendants who come before them, and prosecutors can appeal sentences that they regard as too lenient, and they even can appeal acquittals.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Russia\u2019s interpretation of what constitutes high crimes like espionage and treason is broad, with authorities often going after people who share publicly available information with foreigners and accusing them of divulging state secrets.<\/p>\n<p>Paul Whelan, an American corporate security executive, was arrested in Moscow for espionage in 2018 and is serving a 16-year sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Gershkovich\u2019s arrest came about a year after President Vladimir Putin pushed through laws that chilled journalists, criminalizing criticism of what the Kremlin calls a \u201cspecial military operation\u201d in Ukraine and statements seen as discrediting the military. Foreign journalists largely left after the laws\u2019 passage; many trickled back in subsequent months, but there were concerns about whether Russian authorities would act against them.<\/p>\n<p>After he was detained, fears rose that Russia was targeting Americans as animosity between Moscow and Washington grew. Last year, Alsu Kurmasheva, a reporter with dual American-Russian citizenship for the U.S. government-funded Radio Liberty\/Radio Free Europe, was arrested for alleged violation of the law requiring \u201cforeign agents\u201d to register.<\/p>\n<p>Another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-biden-admin-admits-it-does-not-know-how-many-americans-are-trapped-in-afghanistan-could-be-10000\/\" title=\"WATCH: Biden Admin Admits It Does Not Know How Many Americans Are Trapped In Afghanistan, Could Be 10,000\">dual national<\/a>, Los Angeles resident Ksenia Karelina, is on trial, also in Yekaterinburg, on treason charges for allegedly raising money for a Ukrainian organization that supplied arms and ammunition to Kyiv. Several Western reporters have been forced to leave after Gershkovich\u2019s arrest because Russia refused to renew their visas.<\/p>\n<p>With Gershkovich\u2019s trial being closed, few details of his case may become public. But the Russian Prosecutor General\u2019s office said this month that he is accused of \u201cgathering secret information\u201d on orders from the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a plant about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg that produces and repairs tanks and other military equipment.<\/p>\n<p>Not only is Uralvagonzavod strategically sensitive, it\u2019s also been a nest of vehement pro-Putin sentiment where an inquisitive American could offend and alarm. In 2011, a plant manager, Igor Kholmanskikh, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnns-jim-acosta-admits-to-media-bias-against-the-president\/\" title=\"CNN\u2019S Jim Acosta admits to media bias against the President\">attracted national attention<\/a> on Putin\u2019s annual call-in program by denouncing mass protests in Moscow. Putin later appointed him as his regional envoy and as a member of the National Security Council.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about the trial Wednesday during a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refrained from comment, saying only \u201cit\u2019s necessary to wait for the verdict.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A verdict in Gershkovich\u2019s case could be months away, because Russian trials often adjourn for weeks. The post-verdict prospects are mixed.<\/p>\n<p>Although Russia-U.S. relations are troubled because of the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin and Washington did work out swaps in 2022 that freed WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was serving a 9 1\/2-year sentence for cannabis possession. That exchange freed the highest-value Russian prisoner in the United States, arms dealer Viktor Bout.<\/p>\n<p>The countries also traded Marine veteran Trevor Reed, serving nine years in Russia for assaulting a police officer, for Russian pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. may not hold another strong card like Bout to swap. Putin has alluded to interest in freeing Vadim Krasikov, a Russian imprisoned in Germany for assassinating a Chechen rebel leader in Berlin, but Germany\u2019s willingness to aid in a Russia-U.S. dispute is uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration would also be sensitive to appearing to be giving away too much after substantial criticism for trading Bout, widely called \u201cthe Merchant of Death,\u201d for a sports figure.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But Biden may feel an incentive to secure Gershkovich\u2019s release because of boasts by former President Donald Trump, who is his main challenger in this year\u2019s election, that he can easily get the journalist freed. Putin \u201cwill do that for me, but not for anyone else,\u201d Trump claimed in May.<\/p>\n<p>The Kremlin, however, says it has not been in touch with Trump, and Peskov has previously bristled at the attention given to a possible exchange, saying \u201cthese contacts must be carried out in total secrecy.\u201d<br \/>He reaffirmed that Wednesday, adding: \u201cIt can only be repeated that this issue likes silence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich&#8217;s trial began in Yekaterinburg, held privately 15 months post-arrest on disputed espionage charges. The 32-year-old, in a glass cage with a shaved head, denies the allegations alongside his employer and the U.S. government<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2634,"featured_media":2284040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Evan-Gershkovich-trial-june-24.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32879,4280,4853,32878,32076],"class_list":["post-2284039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-evan-gershkovich","tag-russia","tag-trial","tag-wall-street-journal","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Evan-Gershkovich-trial-june-24.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2284039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2284040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2284039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2284039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2284039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}