The trial of U.S. Reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia for more than a year for alleged espionage, began on Wednesday.
It is in a case described as a sham by his supporters, employer and the U.S. government.
The high-profile trial of the correspondent for the Wall Street Journal Newspaper is taking place in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals.
The 32-year-old reporter denied the charges.
Images from the courtroom showed Gershkovich, wearing jeans and a button-down shirt, standing in a glass cage.
Gershkovich was detained at the end of March 2023 while on a research trip in Yekaterinburg.
A spokesman for the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said that an investigation had found Gershkovich had collected secret information on behalf of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Specifically, Russia alleged that he collected information on the production and repair of defence equipment at the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil, which lied to the north of Yekaterinburg.
“There’s absolutely zero credibility to those charges,’’ said U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in Washington earlier this month.
Many media outlets have called for his release. U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to fight for his freedom.
According to the Kremlin, talks were under way regarding an exchange of prisoners for Gershkovich.
The detention of U.S. citizens in Russia often leads to complicated negotiations between Moscow and Washington about a release or exchange.
In spite of tense U.S.-Russian relations, prisoner exchanges have repeatedly taken place in the past. (dpa/NAN).
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