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Closed-door trial of WSJ’s Gershkovich begins

Evan Gershkovich

The Russian trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich began Wednesday, reports Francesca Ebel of The Washington Post.

Ebel writes, “U.S. Embassy officials said that they were given brief access to Gershkovich ahead of the proceedings and were present at the court.

“‘Russian authorities have failed to provide any evidence supporting the charges against him, failed to justify his continued detention, and failed to explain why Evan’s work as a journalist constitutes a crime,’ the embassy statement said after the hearing.

“His case is not about evidence, procedural norms, or the rule of law. It is about the Kremlin using American citizens to achieve its political objectives. Russia should stop using individuals like Evan Gershkovich or Paul Whelan as bargaining chips.’

“On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Peskov declined to comment on the trial and echoed Putin’s comments on potential prisoner swap negotiations.

“‘No, we can’t talk about any signals at the moment, we can only repeat that this topic likes silence,’ he told reporters at a daily briefing. ‘We know that this topic is very high-profile in the United States, but it is not so high-profile inside our country. The investigation is underway, the trial is underway, and we must wait for the verdict to be delivered.'”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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