American journalist Evan Gershkovich made a brief appearance in a Russian court on Wednesday, facing charges of espionage that he vehemently denies. The 32-year-old reporter, sporting a shaved head, stood in a glass box with his arms folded, dressed in an open-necked shirt.
Prosecutors allege that Gershkovich, working for The Wall Street Journal, gathered classified information for the CIA about a company producing tanks for Russia’s involvement in Ukraine. The potential sentence for this crime is up to 20 years behind bars.
Both Gershkovich and his supporters reject the accusations, stating that he was simply performing his duties as a journalist accredited by the Russian Foreign Ministry. The journalist, his newspaper, and the US government maintain his innocence in the case.