MOSCOW: A Moscow court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from US journalist Evan Gershkovich to be freed from pre-trial detention, meaning he will stay in a former KGB prison until at least May 29 while a spying case against him is investigated.

Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, denies the espionage charges. He looked calm and smiled as he stood in a glass and metal cage before the ruling, wearing a checked shirt, with his arms folded.

His legal team had asked that he be freed on bail of $614,000 supplied by his publisher Dow Jones or placed under house arrest, his lawyer Tatiana Nozhkina said.

“He’s in a combative mood,” Nozhkina told reporters outside the court. “He is ready to defend himself and to show that he is innocent.” Before the hearing got under way, Ger­shkovich turned arou­nd when one of the Russian reporters in the courtroom told him to “Stay strong!” and relayed to him that everyone said “Hi”.

A masked man with “FSB” written on his black uniform stood beside the cage as the judge rejected the appeal. US Ambassador Lynne Tracy stood just metres away, watching the proceedings with a handful of foreign and Russian reporters who were admitted to the courtroom.

When asked by the judge if he needed translation, Gershkovich said in Russian that he understood everything.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2023