A Moscow court has rejected WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich’s detention appeal

MOSCOW — A Moscow court rejected an appeal against the continued detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was apprehended on Mar. 29 on charges of espionage.

The hearing marked the first time the 31-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter had been seen in public since he was detained by Russian security agents while on a reporting trip in the Ural mountain city of Yekaterinburg.

Journalists were allowed briefly into the court room, where Gershkovich was could be seen inside a glass cage dressed in a plaid blue shirt and jeans chatting with his lawyers.

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy was also present for portions of the closed hearing. Following the ruling, Tracy repeated U.S. government calls for Gershkovich’s immediate release

“I can only say how troubling it was to see Evan, an innocent journalist, held in these circumstances,” said Tracy, who noted she had only been granted consular access to the American journalist yesterday after two weeks of trying.

“I can report that he is in good health and remains strong despite his circumstances,” Tracy said.

Gershkovich’s lawyers said he would appeal the court’s finding — but indicated the next hearing would come no sooner than late May.

For now, Gershkovich remains in a cell at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, where he’s been busy reading books like Leo Tolstoy’s classic War and Peace, watching cooking shows, and answering letters from well-wishers from around the globe.

The U.S. State Department has labelled Gershkovich “wrongfully detained” — a designation that provides the government more leeway in negotiating the journalist’s release.

“Journalism is not a crime,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement last week. “We call for the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr. Gershkovich.”

Yet Russian officials insist Gershkovich was caught “red-handed” and suggested a potential prisoner swap could come once the legal system had run its course.

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