The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office sent to trial this Thursday (13) the espionage case against American journalist Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent for the newspaper The Wall Street Journal who was detained in March 2023.
“The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia confirmed the accusation of guilt in the criminal case opened against American citizen Evan Gershkovich,” the organization said on its Telegram channel.
The criminal case was referred to the Sverdlovsk Regional Court, whose capital is Yekaterinburg, the city where the reporter was detained.
“The investigation established and documented that the American journalist (…) collected in March 2023, in the Sverdlovsk region, at the request of the CIA, secret information about the activities of the defense company Uralvagonzabod for the production and repair of military equipment” , detailed the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office.
The agency specified that “Gershkovich carried out illegal actions by taking measures of great secrecy.”
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested at the end of March 2023 in Yekaterinburg, capital of the Urals, and on April 7 was formally charged with espionage by the Federal Security Service (FSB, formerly KGB).
According to the FSB, the journalist “was collecting secret information about the activities of one of the companies of the Russian military-industrial complex on orders from the American side.”
US authorities and the newspaper he worked for denied Russian security forces’ accusations against the journalist and demanded his immediate release.
In an interview given in February to American journalist Tucker Carlson, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin did not rule out the possibility of Gershkovich being traded and assured that Russia “does not refuse to talk about it”.
“We are willing to find a solution, but there are certain conditions that we discuss with our partners through the channels between the intelligence services. I think we can reach an agreement”, declared Putin.
However, it claimed that Gershkovich was caught “red-handed.” “Obtaining secret information through conspiratorial means is espionage and he worked for the US intelligence services”, insisted the dictator.
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