WSJ reporter Gershkovich appears in Russian court for 2nd spy trial hearing

By AP 18 July 2024, 10:23 am

Edit

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom in Yekaterinburg, Russia, June 26, 2024. (AP)

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared in court in Russia for the second hearing in his trial on espionage charges, the court says.

Gershkovich, his employer and the US government vehemently deny the charges against him.

Gershkovich was accused by the Russian Prosecutor General’s office of “gathering secret information” on orders from the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a plant about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg that produces and repairs tanks and other military equipment.

The trial is taking place behind closed doors in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Ural Mountains where the 32-year-old journalist was detained while on a reporting trip in March 2023.