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Arrest of The Wall Street Journal journalist Gershkovich extended until late March

The overall period of Evan Gershkovich’s detention has been extended to 1 year

MOSCOW, January 26. /TASS/. Moscow's Lefortovo court has extended until the end of March the arrest of The Wall Street Journal reporter, US citizen Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in Yekaterinburg last March in an espionage case.

"The ruling of the Lefortovo district court of Moscow of January 26, 2024 extends the period of detention of Evan Gershkovich, accused of committing a crime under Article 276 of the Criminal Code (espionage), by 2 months, and in total up to 12 months, that is, until March 30, 2024," the court's press service has said in a news release.

The overall period of Gershkovich’s detention has been extended to 1 year. From now on the requests for extending the preventive measure will be considered by the Moscow City Court.

According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), Gershkovich, "acting on instructions from the American side, was collecting information constituting state secrets about one of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Russia." He was detained in Yekaterinburg. The FSB launched criminal proceedings against him under Article 276 of the Criminal Code (espionage). He faces up to 20 years in prison. Gershkovich pleads not guilty.

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