WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich's espionage trial begins in Russia

The journalist was arrested in March last year on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, accused of gathering information on a factory making military equipment

US journalist Evan Gershkovich looks out from a defendants' glass cage prior to the hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia. AFP

The espionage trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich began behind closed doors in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on Wednesday, more than a year after his arrest.

Russian authorities arrested Gershkovich, 32, in late March last year while he was on a reporting trip to the city, in the Ural Mountains, and claimed he was gathering secret information for the US on a factory producing military equipment.

Gershkovich, his family and the Wall Street Journal have denied the charges. The US government has declared him to be wrongfully detained.

Journalists, as well as two consular officers from the US embassy in Moscow were briefly allowed into the courtroom on Wednesday before the proceedings were closed. The hearing ended after about two hours, and the next one was scheduled for August 13, court officials said.

“These past 15 months have been extraordinarily painful for Evan and our family,” Gershkovich's family said in a statement. “We miss our son and just want him home.

“Evan is a journalist and journalism is not a crime. We urge the US government to continue to do everything possible to bring Evan home now.”

The Kremlin declined to comment on the opening of the trial, with government spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters: “We know that this topic is very, very resonant in the United States, but it is not so resonant within our country.”

The American-born son of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Gershkovich is the first western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia.

He faces up to 20 years in prison if the court finds him guilty, which is almost certain. Russian courts convict more than 99 per cent of the defendants who come before them, and prosecutors can appeal against sentences that they regard as too lenient, and can even appeal acquittals.

Russia’s interpretation of what constitutes espionage is broad, with authorities often going after people who share publicly available information with foreigners and accusing them of divulging state secrets.

“Evan has never been employed by the United States government. Evan is not a spy,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “Journalism is not a crime and Evan should never have been detained in the first place.”

Mr Kirby added that the US will do “everything it can” to bring Gershkovich and other wrongfully detained Americans home.

“Of course, our embassy in Moscow will continue to seek to attend any and all future hearings.”

Gershkovich is not the only American detained in Russia.

Paul Whelan, an American corporate security executive, was arrested in Moscow for espionage in 2018 and is serving a 16-year sentence.

Last year, Alsu Kurmasheva, a reporter with dual American-Russian citizenship with the US-government-funded Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe, was arrested for alleged violation of the law requiring “foreign agents” to register.

Another dual citizen, Los Angeles resident Ksenia Karelina, is on trial, also in Yekaterinburg, on treason charges for allegedly raising money for a Ukrainian organisation that supplied arms and ammunition to Kyiv.

An electronic billboard in New York's Times Square marks the anniversary of the imprisonment in Russia of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. AFP

Several western reporters have been forced to leave after Gershkovich's arrest because Russia refused to renew their visas.

Although Russia-US relations are strained, the Kremlin and Washington did work out swaps in 2022 that freed basketball star Brittney Griner, who was serving an almost 10-year sentence for cannabis possession, in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

US President Joe Biden may feel an incentive to secure Gershkovich's release because of boasts by former president Donald Trump – his main challenger in this year's election – that he can easily get the journalist freed. Russian President Vladimir Putin “will do that for me, but not for anyone else”, Trump claimed in May.

The negotiations between the US and Russia on a potential exchange involving Gershkovich are not going well so far, three people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg, asking not to be identified as the issue is sensitive.

The trial is taking place amid the continuing Russia-Ukraine war, with Moscow's forces having seized large parts of the country as Kyiv struggles to secure military equipment and aid to fight against the invasion.

The US in April approved $60 billion in funding for Ukraine, with a $400 million military package announced in mid-May.