The American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested over a year ago in Russia, will remain in jail for at least two more months after a Moscow court rejected his appeal against his detention.
Gershkovich, a 32-year-old reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has been held in the Lefortovo prison on the outskirts of Moscow since March last year on allegations by the Russian authorities of espionage while on a reporting trip in the city of Ekaterinburg.
The state department has declared him wrongfully detained, and Gershkovich denies spying, and Joe Biden said his administration is working “every day” to get him released.
On Tuesday, a judge in Moscow upheld a lower court’s decision to keep the reporter in jail until 30 June.
Despite the ruling, Gershkovich looked resolute as he held up his hands in a heart shape for the news cameras and video footage showed him smiling and chatting with his lawyers while kept locked inside a large glass box in the courtroom.
“It continues to be outrageous that Evan has been wrongfully detained by the Russian government for more than a year,” the Wall Street Journal said in a statement after the latest ruling. “Evan’s freedom is long overdue, and we urge the administration to do everything in their power to secure his release.”
In March, Gershkovich’s detention was extended for the fifth time as Russia’s Federal Security Service continues to accuse the reporter of acting on US orders to collect state secrets. Russian officials have not provided evidence to support the accusation.
“Journalism is not a crime, and Evan went to Russia to do his job as a reporter – risking his safety to shine the light of truth on Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine,” Biden said last month.
A bipartisan statement from congressional leaders in the US Senate and House also called for his release.
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Gershkovich is the first US journalist detained on spying charges by Russia since the cold war.