Hearing in secret trial of WSJ reporter detained in Russia moved forward

Russia ’s secret trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich , who was accused of espionage on what are widely believed to be trumped-up charges, will proceed ahead of schedule, according to the newspaper.

The second hearing will take place on Thursday, July 18, nearly one month earlier than initially planned. The new schedule comes after Gershkovich’s defense lawyers had requested that the hearing be pushed earlier, the Wall StreetJournal reported.

“This is a sham trial that should never have taken place, just as Evan never should have been arrested,” the Journal said in a statement. “The sooner it’s over, the better.”

This proceeding will come weeks after the trial’s first hearing , in which Gershkovich stood in a glass, padlocked cage during the two-hour session.

Gershkovich has been held in Russian prison for more than a year, as he was detained in Yekaterinburg in March by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on charges of espionage while he was on a reporting trip for the Journal .

Russian authorities have claimed that the 32-year-old reporter was working on behalf of the CIA to collect information. Gershkovich, his employer and the US government have all vehemently denied that accusation.

The US government considers him “ wrongfully detained ” and has called for his immediate release.

“Journalism is not a crime,” a State Department spokesperson said in April 2023. “We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth.”

“Evan has never been employed by the United States government. Evan is not a spy,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said in June.

“And Evan should never have been detained in the first place.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin had signaled in February that he would be open to a prisoner swap for Gershkovich.

The news of Gershkovich’s rescheduled hearing comes one day after Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen was sentenced to eight years in prison by a Moscow court on Monday.

The New York Times columnist was found guilty in absentia on charges of spreading “false information” about the Russian military, CNN reported.

In a letter posted on Facebook on Monday, written in Russian, Gessen called the charges “illegal and unfounded.”