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WSJ reporter appeals his arrest in Russia on espionage charges

The Public Relations Center of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said earlier that 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"

© AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. US citizen Evan Gershkovich, who works in the Moscow bureau of The Wall Street Journal, and is currently in custody on suspicion of espionage, has appealed his arrest, the press service of Moscow’s Lefortovo court told TASS on Monday.

"The court has received an appeal from Gershkovich's defense against his detention," the court said, noting that no date had been set yet by the Moscow City Court for the appeal hearing.

The Public Relations Center of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said earlier that 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. The FSB investigators opened a criminal case against the US citizen under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage"). On March 30, Moscow’s Lefortovo district court sanctioned Gershkovich’s arrest until May 29.

In light of this, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a statement expressing deep concern for the safety of Gershkovich. According to the WSJ, Gershkovich covers Russia from his post at the newspaper’s Moscow bureau.

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