Today, the trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich continues in Russia.
Our Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennet has more…
“No press are allowed in, no members of the US government, no family either – it’s all being held in secret,” he says.
“And that’s why the Wall Street Journal, his employer, has called this a ‘sham trial’.
“What we do know is that it’s [been] 16 long months since he was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg in central Russia – which is where the trial is being held.”
Officers of the FSB security service arrested him on 29 March last year at a steakhouse in the city, which is about 900 miles east of Moscow. He has since been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison.
“He says he was on a reporting trip there, but Russia claims he was spying for the CIA – accusing him of gathering secrets on a tank factory,” Bennet continues.
“There has been contact with Washington about a potential prisoner exchange, but like the trial, all of that is being held in secret and, if convicted, [he] could face up to 20 years behind bars.”
