Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) journalist who has been locked up in a Moscow jail for almost 15 months, went on trial today, June 26th, in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. He was arrested on espionage charges in March last year while reporting on the war in Ukraine.
The White House has long described the allegations against Gershkovich—that he was “collecting classified information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constitutes a state secret”—as “ridiculous.”
Gershkovich’s ordeal is a fairly blatant show trial, set up to facilitate a future prisoner exchange. The BBC suggests that Vladimir Putin could use him to release Vadim Krasikov, an alleged Russian agent who is serving a life sentence for murder in Germany. Euronews added that no exchange will take place until a verdict is reached in Gershkovich’s case.
WSJ official Deborah Ball said “it’s evident that this is hostage diplomacy.”
The Russians have been perfectly plain about what their objective is. Putin has barely hidden the fact that he wants to trade Evan and regards him as a pawn. He’s a political hostage.
If he is convicted, Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison.
Gershkovich appeared in the Yekaterinburg court with a shaved head. No reporters, family, or U.S. embassy staff are allowed in the courtroom. Lawyer Evgeniy Smirnov of Pervy Otdel said this would impose a further psychological burden on Gershkovich, noting:
For the defendant, this is always hard. An open trial means the chance to appeal to the public, the chance to receive support and the chance to see your loved ones at a difficult moment in your life.
Deprived of all this, a person is forced to concentrate only on his own defence.
AP also reported this morning that arrests of Americans in Russia are becoming “increasingly common with relations sinking to Cold War lows,” adding that it is “unclear” how many are currently jailed there.
Financial Times journalist Max Seddon said it was “beyond surreal to see Evan, a superb journalist, in the defendant’s glass cage on these ludicrous charges, for which Russia has not provided any evidence.”
The trial is expected to take two to three months.
