Wall Street Journal Reporter Held in Russia on Spying Charges Denied Bail by Moscow Court

thewrap.com:

Reuters reported. Lefortovo, a former KGB prison, is often used to house prominent political prisoners.Gershkovich appeared at the hearing in a transparent box, known as a dock, that is used to hold defendants in Russian courts.

Wearing jeans and a checked shirt, he appeared healthy but pale. He was calm, with his arms crossed over his chest, during the hearing, but earlier appeared stressed as he paced back and forth in the small space.Before the hearing got underway, Gershkovich turned around when one of the Russian reporters in the courtroom told him to “Stay Strong!” and relayed to him that everyone said “Hi,” in a video you can watch below.“Evan, stay strong!” a fellow journalist tells him pic.twitter.com/tIpqxAsdLnThe judge asked at the start of the procedure if he needed translation, but Gershkovich said he was able to follow along in Russian.His Russian lawyer, Tatiana Nozhkina, had sought bail of 50 million roubles, about $614,000, or house arrest.

She said the court rejected both requests.The reporter faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted. “Virtually all espionage trials in Russia end in a guilty verdict,” the Journal noted.The news organization and the U.S.

government vehemently deny that Gershovich is a spy.The U.S. government last week designated Gershkovich as wrongfully detained and called for his immediate release.