A Russian court has extended the pretrial detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested nearly a year ago on espionage charges widely considered false.
The court on Tuesday ordered Gershkovic to be held in custody until at least June 30, three months longer than the previous order.
His trial date has not yet been set.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 while reporting in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
Gershkovich and the newspaper deny the Russian espionage accusations. Russia has yet to provide evidence to support the accusations.
“He is an innocent man and we are counting on the U.S. government to bring him home,” Paul Beckett told VOA last week. Beckett is an assistant editor at the Wall Street Journal and is leading the paper’s campaign for Gershkovich’s release.
The U.S. State Department also announced that Gershkovich was wrongfully detained.
This article contains information from The Associated Press, AFP and Reuters.
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