American journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested in Russia last week, has been formally charged with espionage, Russian news agencies report. The journalist from The Wall Street Journal risks up to 20 years in prison.
The Russian security service detained 31-year-old Gershkovich on March 30 in the city of Yekaterinburg. Russia suspects him of collecting alleged state secrets about the military-industrial complex.
Gershkovich strongly denies the accusation. He has appealed against his arrest. Also The Wall Street Journal denies that the reporter was spying. The American newspaper has demanded his immediate release.
The US government calls the espionage allegation ridiculous. The United States has urged Russia to allow consular assistance to Gershkovich. Moscow has promised that a solution will be found.
The court in Russia will consider the appeal on April 18. Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be arrested in Russia for espionage since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Journalist possible bargaining chip for suspected Russian spy
Defense expert Ko Colijn suggested in his article on NU.nl last Sunday that Gershkovich may have to serve as a bargaining chip against the alleged Russian spy Sergey Cherkasov. This employee of the Russian intelligence service GRU recently tried to infiltrate the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
The Russian pretended to be a Brazilian. In Brazil he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for using a forged Brazilian identity document. The US now also wants to try him as a Russian spy.
Russia denies any involvement and wants Brazil to extradite the man not to Washington, but to Moscow.
