A Russian court ruled to extend the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich for a third time since he was taken into custody in March on an allegation of espionage that he, the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny.
The decision followed a judge’s ruling in August to grant the request of investigators from the Federal Security Service, or FSB, that Gershkovich remains behind bars awaiting trial until Nov. 30. Tuesday’s ruling lengthens his detention through at least Jan. 30, by which time he will have been held for 10 months.
The Journal said it continued to stand with Gershkovich and called for his immediate release.
“Evan has now been unjustly imprisoned for nearly 250 days, and every day is a day too long,” the Journal said in a statement. “The accusations against him are categorically false and his continued imprisonment is a brazen and outrageous attack on a free press, which is critical for a free society.”
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow also criticized the extension of Gershkovich’s detention.
Gershkovich, a 32-year-old U.S. citizen who was accredited by Russia’s Foreign Ministry to work as a journalist, was detained by FSB agents on March 29 during a reporting trip. Russian investigators haven’t publicly presented evidence to back up their espionage allegation against Gershkovich, who is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison.
The U.S. government has deemed Gershkovich, the first American journalist to be charged with espionage in Russia since the end of the Cold War, wrongfully detained.
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