Russian court docket rejects enchantment to launch WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich | Freedom of the Press News | USAEMALL.com

President Vladimir Putin says he hopes for settlement with US on prisoner swap however admits ‘it’s not easy’.

An American reporter jailed in Russia should keep behind bars into the brand new yr as he awaits trial on espionage prices, a Russian court docket has dominated.

Evan Gershkovich, a Moscow correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, has been in jail since March on accusations of spying – prices that he, his employer and the United States authorities reject.

A Moscow metropolis court docket on Thursday upheld a November ruling extending Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention to January 30, 2024, because it rejected his enchantment to be launched.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, at his end-of-year information convention on Thursday, stated he hoped an settlement may very well be reached with the US a couple of doable prisoner swap for Gershkovich in addition to former US marine and safety government Paul Whelan, additionally jailed on espionage prices.

While Russia had ongoing contacts with the US over the difficulty, Putin stated: “It is not simple, I will not go into details now, but in general, it seems to me that we speak a language that is understandable to each other. I hope we will find a solution. But, I repeat, the American side must hear us and make an appropriate decision, one that suits the Russian side.”

US ambassador Lynne Tracy, talking outdoors the court docket, stated: “Evan’s ordeal has now stretched on for over 250 days. His life has been put on hold for over eight months for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“It is not acceptable that Russian authorities have chosen to use him as a political pawn.”

‘Hostage diplomacy’

Gershkovich was detained by Russian authorities on March 29 within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg, some 2,000km (1,243 miles) east of Moscow, and accused of spying, making him the primary Western reporter to be held on such prices in Russia for the reason that Soviet period.

Russia’s Federal Security Service claims the reporter was “caught red-handed” making an attempt to acquire secret details about a Russian arms manufacturing facility. He faces 20 years in jail if convicted.

Gershkovich’s authorized group and his supporters have dismissed the costs as baseless – and Russia has not publicly offered proof.

The US has declared Gershkovich to be “wrongfully detained” and accused Russia of utilizing him for “hostage diplomacy”.

This month, Washington stated Russia had rejected a “significant proposal” to launch Gershkovich and Whelan.

However, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated the setback wouldn’t “deter” the US authorities from “continuing to do everything we can to try and bring both of them home”.

On Tuesday, Sullivan stated Gershkovich’s launch was a high precedence for the White House.

Gershkovich’s detention has unfolded amid heightened tensions between the US and Russia over the conflict in Ukraine and what Russia’s critics say is an expansive crackdown on impartial media.

The US can also be trying into the detention of US-Russian twin citizen Alsu Kurmasheva, who was arrested within the central metropolis of Kazan in October for failing to register as a “foreign agent”.

Kurmasheva’s employer, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), this week denounced the brand new prices filed in opposition to her after experiences that she has additionally been accused of violating guidelines in opposition to Ukraine conflict criticism.

Russia and the US have agreed to a number of high-profile prisoner exchanges in recent times, together with swapping jailed US girls’s basketball star Brittney Griner for Russian arms seller Viktor Bout in December 2022.

The Russian overseas ministry has stated it will think about a swap for Gershkovich solely after a verdict in his trial, which might final for greater than a yr.