US journalist Gershkovich loses new appeal against pre-trial detention on Russian spy charge

MOSCOW - US reporter Evan Gershkovich lost his latest appeal in

a Moscow court on Thursday

against his pre-trial detention on

charges of espionage

that he denies

.

The US ambassador to Moscow accused Russia of conducting “hostage diplomacy” after a judge rejected an application for the Wall Street Journal reporter to be released from Moscow’s Lefortovo prison while awaiting trial on charges that carry a jail term of up to 20 years.

Wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt, Gershkovich smiled at reporters as he stood in a glass box inside the courtroom. His

parents Mikhail Gershkovich and Ella Milman

, who left the Soviet Union for the United States in 1979, were in court to support him.

The judge’s decision came as no surprise, after a court denied an earlier

request from Gershkovich’s lawyers in April

that he be transferred to house arrest, agree to restrictions on his movements, or be granted bail.

“Although the outcome was expected, it is no less an outrage that his detention continues to be upheld,” the Wall Street Journal said in a statement.

The Kremlin has said Gershkovich was caught “red-handed” on a trip to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, where the Russia’s Federal Security Service said he was trying to obtain military secrets. It has provided no evidence to support that assertion, which is vehemently denied by the Wall Street Journal.

US Ambassador Lynne Tracy,

who was not allowed inside the hearing

, told reporters outside that she was “extremely disappointed” by the decision.

She praised Gershkovich, 31, for his “remarkable strength and resiliency” and reiterated the US stance that the charges against him were baseless.

“He is an innocent journalist who was carrying out journalistic activities and has

been wrongfully detained

. Such hostage diplomacy is unacceptable,” Ms Tracy said.

Russia has agreed in the past to high-profile prisoner exchanges with the United States, most recently last year when

basketball star Brittney Griner, sentenced on a drugs charge, was traded

for convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout.

Moscow has said

no exchange could take place

in Gershkovich’s case until a verdict has been reached. No date has so far been set for his trial.

Relations between Russia and the United States are

at their lowest point for more than 60 years

because of the

conflict in Ukraine

.

Ms Tracy said Washington demanded the immediate release of Gershkovich and

Paul Whelan, a former US marine who was arrested in Russia

in 2018 and jailed for 16 years in June 2020 on spying charges.

Whelan, too, is

designated by Washington as wrongfully detained

, a term that means the United States considers the verdicts to be bogus and politically motivated. REUTERS