double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs vietnamese seafood double-skinned crabs mud crab exporter double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs crabs crab exporter soft shell crab crab meat crab roe mud crab sea crab vietnamese crabs seafood food vietnamese sea food double-skinned crab double-skinned crab soft-shell crabs meat crabs roe crabs
US News

Moscow court extends arrest of jailed WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich

By
Associated Press
Published Aug. 24, 2023
Updated Aug. 24, 2023, 4:31 a.m. ET

The arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges has been extended to Nov. 30, Russian state news agency Tass said.

Gershkovich arrived at the Moscow court Thursday in a white prison van and was led out handcuffed, wearing jeans, sneakers and a shirt.

Journalists outside the court were not allowed to witness the proceedings. Tass said they were held behind closed doors because details of the criminal case are classified.

The prosecution had asked to extend his arrest from Aug. 30.

Evan Gershkovich (right) is escorted outside the Lefortovsky Court in Moscow on August 24, 2023.
Evan Gershkovich (right) is escorted outside the Lefortovsky Court in Moscow on August 24, 2023. AFP via Getty Images

He has appealed against the extensions to his detention.

A 31-year-old US citizen, Gershkovich was arrested Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip in late March. Russia’s Federal Security Service said Gershkovich, “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.”

Gershkovich and his employer deny the allegations, and the US government declared him to be wrongfully detained. Gershkovich’s case has been wrapped in secrecy. Russian authorities haven’t detailed what — if any — evidence they have gathered to support the espionage charges.

Evan Gershkovich was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip to Russia.
Evan Gershkovich was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip to Russia. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Earlier in August, US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy made her third visit to Gershkovich and reported that he appeared to be in good health despite challenging circumstances. Gershkovich was being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions.

Gershkovich is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.

Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips in soaring US-Russian tensions over the Kremlin’s military operation in 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.