A Moscow court has ordered American journalist Evan Gershkovich to be remanded in custody for three months longer. Investigators from the Russian intelligence service FSB had requested this, the Russian news agency reports RIA Novosti.
Russia arrested the 32-year-old journalist from The Wall Street Journal on March 29 on suspicion of espionage. Gershkovich and his employer deny that accusation, but according to the Kremlin, the American was caught red-handed. So far Russia has not provided any evidence of this.
Earlier it was announced that Gershkovich would be held in custody until May 29. The FSB, the successor to the KGB intelligence service, asked for an extension of that period. The American will now remain in custody until at least August 30.
Gershkovich, whose parents left the Soviet Union for the United States, has been writing about Russia for over five years. He was working on an article about the attitude of the Russian population to the recruitment of the Wagner Group. That mercenary army fights in Ukraine on the Russian side.
The journalist can be sentenced to twenty years in prison.
2023-05-23 15:41:16
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