The United States Embassy in Russia said Wednesday that Russian officials did not present any proof to back up the accusations against The Wall Street Journal's (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich (pictured), nor did they give reasons for keeping him detained or clarified how his journalistic activities were considered criminal during the first day of the trial against him in Yekaterinburg's Sverdlovsk Regional Court.
In a statement, the embassy said US officials had "brief access" to the courthouse before the proceedings began "closed-door."
"His case is not about evidence, procedural norms, or the rule of law. It is about the Kremlin using American citizens to achieve its political objectives," Washington stressed. In addition, it urged Moscow to refrain from using Gershkovich or Paul Whelan, a Canadian-born ex-US marine accused of spying and arrested in 2018, as "bargaining chips."
