American journalist Evan Gershkovich is on trial for espionage in Russia
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The trial of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges began today in Russia's mountain capital. That's...
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
I looked it up for you. I knew this was going to be an issue. Yekaterinburg, I believe.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. I took a U-turn on that pronunciation.
INSKEEP: That's OK. It's OK. So I think it's called Yekaterinburg, the Ural Mountain capital in Russia, the same city where the American reporter was detained by Russian security agents 15 months ago.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. Now, joining us to talk about this case is NPR's Charles Maynes, on the line now from Moscow. Charles, obviously a very tough situation that we're dealing with here. What do we know about the circumstances of the trial itself?
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: You know, because of the nature of these espionage charges, this is a closed trial, with no reporters, no family, not even U.S. admoy representatives, allowed into the proceedings. They could see Gershkovich face 20 years in prison, if he's convicted. Gershkovich's lawyers also face a gag order, so we won't hear from them. The trial got under way late this morning today in Yekaterinburg, as we say. There was a brief moment where the press was allowed into the courtroom in video published by state media. You can see Gershkovich looking healthy, but now with his head shaved, in a padlocked glass cage. He smiles briefly, waves to the camera before journalists are escorted from the room.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So the Russian government accuses Gershkovich of espionage. We know that. But what do we know about the specific charges?
MAYNES: Yeah. You know, after keeping these espionage allegations under wraps for 15 long months of pretrial detention, Russian prosecutors recently revealed at least some details of what they'll argue in court. They'll say Gershkovich was collecting secret information about a Russian tank factory on the orders of the CIA, specifically a tank factory in Nizhny Tagil. This is a town about 140 miles or so to the north of Yekaterinburg. Now, you've heard it before; you'll hear it again now. Gershkovich and The Journal vehemently reject the espionage charges. They always have. They say he was working worth full accreditation and vetting from the Russian Foreign Ministry at the time of his arrest. In other words, he, like anyone working in Russia as a journalist, including me, went through background checks.
You know, as to his presence in the Urals, The Journal says he was on a reporting assignment. And I can tell you this town, Nizhny Tagil, you know, made its name over a decade ago as a conservative bastion for support for President Vladimir Putin. So it's not a bad choice for a journalist, you know, looking to learn more about the attitudes of working-class fans of the Russian leader amid the war in Ukraine.
MARTÍNEZ: The U.S. government has designated Gershkovich as wrongfully detained. The White House has also said that it's made several offers to the Kremlin aimed at securing his release. Obviously, no success so far. What do we know about these negotiations?
MAYNES: Well, The Journal's editor-in-chief, Emma Tucker, published a letter yesterday that said even calling this a trial is a misnomer. She said The Journal expected a bogus accusation to lead to a bogus conviction. Keep in mind that more than 99% of all cases do end in convictions in Russia. So while I'm sure they would all welcome a not guilty verdict, that doesn't seem to be where this is going. The U.S. hostages diplomat, Roger Carstens, has said that efforts to negotiate the release of Gershkovich and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, continue. Earlier this month, President Putin acknowledged much the same. But recently, Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Moscow had presented Washington with a proposal, adding that if the U.S. didn't like the deal on the table, that was their problem. So that's where we are.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. Thank you, Charles.
MAYNES: Thank you.
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