UNITED NATIONS, April 17. /TASS/. It is up to court to make decisions in the case of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being held in custody in Russia on espionage charges, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said on Monday, commenting on the statement issued by the United States and 41 more countries in connection with Gershkovich’s arrest.

"This process is proceeding in conformity with legal procedures, Russian laws, we have repeated this more than once. This is beyond my sphere of responsibility. This is the competence of corresponding Russian bodies. Only court can rule whether he is guilty or not," he said.

Earlier on Monday, the United States and 41 more countries signed off on a statement in connection with Gershkovich’s arrest. They demanded the man’s release and accused Russia of infringing on the freedom of the press. The statement was distributed by the US mission.

According to the Public Relations Center of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Evan Gershkovich, "acting at the behest of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of an enterprise within Russia’s military-industrial complex." The reporter was detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. FSB investigators opened a criminal case against the US citizen under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage"). Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the journalist had been "caught red-handed." On March 30, Moscow’s Lefortovo district court ordered that Gershkovich be held in custody until May 29.