Evan Gershkovich is the first Western journalist arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War. Today his trial began.
Evan is 32 years old and a reporter for the Wall Street Journal based at the new outlet’s Moscow bureau. He received permission to work as a reporter in Russia. Nonetheless, 16 months ago he was detained in Yekaterinburg, about 900 miles east of Moscow, by the Federal Security Service, or FSB, while on a work assignment.
It is described as a secret trial because trials are held behind closed doors. Evan will not have the legal protections he would have in the United States and other Western countries. His family and others were not allowed to stay in the courtroom.
He faces 20 years in prison if convicted. Russian courts convict 99% of those who go on trial. His fellow journalists are doing interviews today to keep Evan’s story in the…
