MOSCOW — The espionage trial of American journalist Evan Gershkovich resumed in a Russian court on Thursday after being brought forward at the request of his defense.
Gershkovich attended the court hearing in person, according to the court’s press service, with the hearing being held behind closed doors. The hearing has adjourned for today and will start again Friday.
The court did not give an indication of when they would expect to deliver the verdict.
Gershkovich, the first American journalist to be arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War, first went on trial on June 26 at the Sverdlovsky Regional Court in the city of Yekaterinburg, where he appeared in a courtroom’s glass cage with his head shaved.
He was arrested while reporting for the Wall Street Journal, during a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg in March 2023, and later accused of spying for the CIA. Gershkovich, the US government, and the WSJ have vehemently denied the charges against him.
The WSJ’s publisher Dow Jones in a statement Thursday reiterated its call for the release of Gershkovich, saying his detention “must end now.”
“Even as Russia orchestrates its shameful sham trial, we continue to do everything we can to push for Evan’s immediate release and to state unequivocally: Evan was doing his job as a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. Bring him home now,” the statement said.
US and Western officials have accused Russia of using Gershkovich and other jailed foreigners as bargaining chips for possible prisoner exchanges.
A high-profile swap in 2022 saw US basketball star Brittney Griner exchanged for arms dealer Viktor Bout. But Russia refused to release another jailed US citizen, Paul Whelan, as it was seeking a former colonel from Russia’s domestic spy organization in return.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
The British Consul General in Ekaterinburg, Ameer Kotecha, attended the hearing as a listener – but like other listeners, he won’t be able to get into the courtroom, according to Russian state media TASS.
Roger Carstens, US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, said the US Embassy in Russia planned to seek permission to attend the Thursday hearing, TASS reported.
CNN has reached out to the US Embassy in Russia.
Before his transfer to Yekaterinburg, the 32-year-old journalist was imprisoned in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison, spending almost every hour of the day in a small cell.
He passed the time by writing letters to his friends and family, his parents said in an interview with the WSJ, adding that he has been allowed just one hour of walking per day.
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