“US WSJ reporter to face trial on spy charges, with final arguments scheduled for tomorrow”

American WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich on trial in Sverdlovsk regional court, Russia
[EPA Yonhap News. Redistribution and DB Prohibition],
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, ‘ (Moscow=Yonhap News) By Choi In-young = A Russian court is scheduled to hear the final arguments of Evan Gershkovich, a journalist for the American daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ) accused of espionage, on the 19th local time, according to AFP news agency.’,
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, ‘ The Sverdlovsk regional court in Yekaterinburg, central Russia, announced after concluding the second trial of the Gershkovich case on the 18th that “final arguments will be heard tomorrow during the trial,” according to AFP.’,
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, ‘ Like the first trial on July 26, today’s trial was also held in private.’,
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, ‘ On July 26, his appearance was briefly shown in the media before the court proceedings, but today, journalists’ access was completely restricted. Trials related to charges of treason or espionage in Russia are usually held behind closed doors.’,
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, ‘ The second trial was originally scheduled for August 13, but it was brought forward to today at the request of Gershkovich’s defense lawyers.’,
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, ‘ A spokesperson for the Sverdlovsk regional court explained that the court has completed its judicial investigation.’,
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, ‘ If Gershkovich is found guilty, he could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.’,
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, ‘ Foreign media outlets predict that Gershkovich is likely to receive a guilty verdict, considering that Russia often hands down guilty verdicts to defendants brought before the courts and interprets serious crimes like espionage broadly.’,
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, ‘ Gershkovich and WSJ, as well as the U.S. government, deny the espionage charges against him.’,
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, ‘ He was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 29 last year. A Western journalist being arrested on espionage charges in Russia is the first since the Cold War.’,
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, ‘ The Russian prosecution accused Gershkovich last month of receiving instructions from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and collecting secret information from the military equipment production and repair company Uralvagonzavod in Sverdlovsk.’,
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, ‘ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the day before at a UN press conference that there is “irrefutable evidence” of Gershkovich’s espionage charges and that Russia and U.S. intelligence agencies are continuously in contact over the issue of (detainee) exchanges, as reported by TASS news agency.’,
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Journalist Evan Gershkovich
[Reuters Yonhap News. Redistribution and DB Prohibition],
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, ‘ [email protected]’,
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