US journalist Gershkovich on trial in Russia over spying charges he denies
Al Jazeera
Journalist faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted, court sets next hearing for August 13.
American journalist Evan Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors trial in Russia on charges of espionage 15 months after he was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg.
The 32-year-old reported for The Wall Street Journal appeared in a glass cage in the Yekaterinburg courtroom on Wednesday, with his head shaven clean and wearing a black-and-blue plaid shirt.
Gershkovich is accused by prosecutors of gathering secret information about Uralvagonzavod, a plant manufacturing tanks for Russia’s war in Ukraine, on the orders of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Prosecutor Mikael Ozdoyev claimed there was proof that Gershkovich “on the instructions of the CIA … collected secret information about the activities of a defence enterprise about the production and repair of military equipment in the Sverdlovsk region”.
The court said the next hearing will be held on August 13.
