The trial of US reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia for more than a year for alleged espionage, began on Wednesday, in a case decried as a sham by his supporters, his employer and the US government.
The hearing lasted several hours, with the second session postponed to August 13. The sessions are all to be heard behind closed doors.
The high-profile trial of the correspondent for the Wall Street Journal newspaper is taking place in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals. The 32-year-old reporter denies the charges.
Images from the courtroom showed Gershkovich, wearing jeans and a button-down shirt, standing in a glass cage.
Gershkovich was detained at the end of March 2023 while on a research trip in Yekaterinburg.
A spokesman for the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said that an investigation found Gershkovich had collected secret information on behalf of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Specifically, Russia alleges he collected information on the production and repair of defence equipment at the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil, which lies 130 kilometres to the north of Yekaterinburg.
Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker issued a statement on Wednesday describing the proceedings as "shameful and illegitimate."
"It's jarring to see him in yet another courtroom for a sham trial held in secret and based on fabricated accusations," she said. "Evan's wrongful detention continues to be a devastating assault on his freedom and his work and an unfathomable attack on the free press," Tucker added.
She noted that Gershkovich had been accredited by the Russian government. "The time to bring Evan home is now, and we continue to demand his immediate release," Tucker said.
"There's absolutely zero credibility to those charges," said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in Washington earlier this month.
Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov rejected the allegations as "counterproductive attempts to politicize the trial."
If Washington was really interested in Gershkovich's fate, the US administration should be less vocal and rather "pay heed seriously to the signals that they have received in Washington via the relevant channels," Ryabkov said.
Many media outlets have called for Gershkovich's release. US President Joe Biden has promised to fight for his freedom.
According to the Kremlin, talks are under way regarding an exchange of prisoners for Gershkovich. The detention of US citizens in Russia often leads to complicated negotiations between Moscow and Washington about a release or exchange.
The Kremlin declined to comment on the trial or on the talks about an exchange. Issues of this kind could only be resolved in complete silence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Wednesday.
Despite tense US-Russian relations, prisoner exchanges have repeatedly taken place in the past.
