YEKATERINBURG. June 26 (Interfax) - The Sverdlovsk Region Court held the first hearing on the merits of the espionage case against Evan Gershkovich, a reporter of the Wall Street Journal's Moscow bureau, on Wednesday.
The hearing was held in camera, an Interfax correspondent reported.
The next hearing is due on August 13, the court told Interfax. The trial will continue in camera, as materials in the proceeding are classified.
The court accredited 23 Russian and ten foreign media outlets on Wednesday for official pre-trial filming, the court told Interfax.
"Mr. Gershkovich requested not to be asked any questions," a court representative said. As certain reporters tried to talk to him during the official filming, Gershkovich smiled and gestured that he refused to answer.
The U.S. consul told reporters on the hearing's sidelines that representatives of the U.S. diplomatic mission had not met with Gershkovich at the pre-trial detention facility in Yekaterinburg, but would apply for visitation. The stance on the trial itself will be presented by the U.S. embassy in Moscow later, he said.
On March 29, 2023, the FSB public relations department said that Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen born in 1991, was detained and charged with espionage.
Investigators established that Gershkovich collected secret data on Uralvagonzavod operations on the CIA's orders.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said later that Gershkovich was caught red-handed. Gershkovich pled not guilty, his defense team said. U.S. authorities said his arrest was wrongful and are seeking to secure his release.
In early June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the United States is taking energetic steps to secure Gershkovich's release, but such issues must be resolved only on the reciprocity basis.
Gershkovich spent the investigation period at the Lefortovo pre-trial detention facility in Moscow.
Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy said that its representatives had brief access to the hearing.
"Russian authorities have failed to provide any evidence supporting the charges against him, failed to justify his continued detention, and failed to explain why Evan's work as a journalist constitutes a crime," the embassy said.
"Russia should stop using individuals like Evan Gershkovich or Paul Whelan as bargaining chips. They should both be released immediately," it said.