The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested on espionage charges in March and will be held until 30 January.
ADVERTISEMENTA court in Moscow on Tuesday extended the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, until 30 January.
The hearing took place behind closed doors because authorities say details of the criminal case against the American journalist are classified. No date for his trial has yet been set.
Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000 kilometres east of Moscow. He has since been held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, used by the Russian security services (FSB) to keep prisoners in near-total solitude.
Russia’s Federal Security Service alleged that the reporter, “acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
Russian authorities haven’t detailed any evidence to support the espionage charges.
According to a video released by the court, Gershkovich, dressed in a black and white checkered shirt and a dark hooded jacket, listened to the court's decision calmly from the metal cage reserved for the accused.
Gershkovich and the Wall Street Journal have denied the allegations, and the US government has declared him to be wrongfully detained.
The United States embassy in Moscow, whose diplomats attended the hearing, said it was "deeply concerned" by this court decision.
“We reiterate our call for his immediate release,” the embassy said in a statement on X.
“Evan has been unjustly imprisoned for approximately 250 days, and every day is a day too long,” the Wall Street Journal said in a statement.
“The accusations against him are categorically false and his continued imprisonment is a brazen and revolting attack on the free press,” it added.
The extension of his detention was almost certain, as Russian justice very rarely releases people imprisoned while awaiting trial for such serious charges, which is punishable by 20 years in prison.
Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be charged with espionage in Russia since 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. He is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions.
Analysts say Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips after tensions soared when Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At least two US citizens arrested in Russia in recent years, including WNBA star Brittney Griner, have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the US.
The latest arrest is that of Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva from the American media Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). She was arrested on October 18 in Russia, accused of breaches linked to the status of “foreign agent”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it will consider a swap for Gershkovich only after a verdict in his trial. In Russia, espionage trials can last for more than a year.