MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that hearings in the case of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich are held behind closed doors because of the sensitive nature of the charges against him.

"There is an accusation of espionage, so this is an extremely sensitive area, and the judge chose to hold the proceedings in private," the Kremlin official told journalists.

"We simply cannot provide any other comments because the trial is ongoing," Peskov explained.

He also did not comment on the reasons for the expedited hearing. "This I will leave without an answer, this is the court’s decision, we cannot comment on this," he said.

The press service of the Sverdlovsky regional court said that the verdict on the Gershkovich case will be handed down on July 19. Earlier, the court held two closed-door sessions, concluding the criminal investigation into the case. On Friday, final arguments were made, with the prosecution asking for 18 years in a maximum-security prison for the journalist. Gershkovich pleaded not guilty.

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Gershkovich, "acting as an agent for the American side, collected top-secret data about the activity of an enterprise of the Russian military-industrial complex." In this connection, the journalist was detained in Yekaterinburg at the end of March 2023; criminal proceedings were initiated against him under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage").