Moscow court rules US journalist Evan Gershkovich must stay in jail

Wall Street Journal reporter has denied spying charges against him

US journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, stands inside a defendants' cage before a hearing in Moscow. AFP

A Moscow court on Thursday ruled that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich must remain in jail on espionage charges until at least late August, rejecting the American journalist’s appeal to be released.

The 31-year-old US citizen was arrested in late March while on a reporting trip.

A Moscow court ruled last month to keep him in custody until August 30, but his lawyers have challenged the decision.

Gershkovich, wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans, looked tense as he paced inside a glass defendant’s cage while waiting for the hearing to begin at the Moscow City Court.

Journalists in the courtroom were asked to leave and the proceedings took place behind closed doors.

The ruling was broadcast to reporters, who watched it on two large TV screens in a separate room in the courthouse.

While waiting for the judge, Gershkovich smiled and chatted with his parents, who were present.

US ambassador Lynne Tracy also attended.

“Evan continued to show remarkable strength and resiliency in these very difficult circumstances,” she told reporters afterward.

Ms Tracy said she was “extremely disappointed” by the ruling, reiterating that Gershkovich was “an innocent journalist” and Russia’s charges against him were baseless.

“Such hostage diplomacy is unacceptable, and we call on the Russian Federation to release him,” she said.

Ella Milman, mother of US journalist Evan Gershkovich, leaves the Moscow City Court after a hearing. AFP

The Wall Street Journal said in a statement after the hearing that Gershkovich “has been wrongfully detained for more than 12 weeks for nothing more than doing his job as a journalist” and it again called for his immediate release.

Gershkovich and his employer have denied the spying allegations, and the US government has declared him to be wrongfully detained.

His arrest in the city of Yekaterinburg rattled journalists in Russia, where authorities have not detailed what, if any, evidence there is to support the espionage charges.

Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips in soaring US-Russian tension over the Kremlin’s military operation in Ukraine.

At least two US citizens arrested in Russia in recent years – including WNBA star Brittney Griner – have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the US.

Sergey Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, has cautioned, however, that the possibility of a swap in Gershkovich's case “could only be considered after a court delivers its verdict”.

Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.