Russia on Thursday, August 24, extended the detention of US reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested in March on spying charges that he denies and held in a Moscow prison since, by three months. Gershkovich, a Moscow correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, had continued to report from Russia during Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.
"The time of detention has been extended by three months... Until November 30, 2023," a spokesperson for Moscow's Lefortovsky court said. The hearing was held behind closed doors, but Agence France Presse reporters saw the 31-year-old, handcuffed and wearing a chequered shirt and jeans, being escorted into the court by masked men. After the hearing, one of Gershkovich's lawyers left the court without giving any comment to journalists.
Gershkovich was arrested during a reporting trip in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on March 29, becoming the first Western journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Soviet era. Russia has not provided public evidence of the accusations and the legal proceedings have been classified as secret. He has since been held in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison, famous for keeping inmates in near-total isolation. US President Joe Biden has called for the reporter's release.
The United States said in July that there was still no clear "pathway" to getting Gershkovich home, despite high-level talks.