Russia seeks 18-year sentence in Gershkovich 'spying' case

The fast-tracked Russian espionage trial of US reporter Evan Gershkovich reached its final stages at the Sverdlovsk Regional Court on Friday, in a case that Washington has condemned as a sham.

The 32-year-old Wall Street Journal correspondent is the first Western journalist in Russia to have been charged with spying since the Soviet era.

What is happening with the case?

Russian prosecutors have demanded an 18-year prison sentence for Gerschkovich, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Gershkovich is believed to have appeared at the court, in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, with proceedings drawing to a close after just two hearings.

Russian media said the verdict would be delivered on Friday at 1200 GMT. 

The case has moved quickly since the first hearing in late June, with a second closed-door hearing on Thursday, almost a month earlier than previously planned. This was at the request of Gershkovich's defense team.

The 32-year-old could face up to 20 years in a penal colony if convicted.

In the first hearing, journalists were permitted to enter the courtroom for a few minutes before doors were closed on the proceedings.

This week, however, no access was provided and Gershkovich was not seen, with no explanation given.

The speed of the proceedings has fueled speculation that a long-discussed US-Russia prisoner exchange deal involving Gershkovich may be taking shape.

It is believed that both sides have finished delivering evidence, a stage of the trial that would normally take longer.

What are the charges?

Russian prosecutors say they have proof that Gershkovich gathered "secret information" for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

He is accused of gathering information on the Uralvagonzavod defense equipment factory in Nizhny Tagil, a plant that makes and repairs tanks and other military equipment that lies to the north of Yekaterinburg.

Officers from Russia's FSB security service arrested him in March last year at a steakhouse in Yekaterinburg, some 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) east of Moscow. Since then, he has been held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison.

Dismissed as a 'sham trial'

"Evan's wrongful detention has been an outrage since his unjust arrest 477 days ago, and it must end now," the Wall Street Journal said Thursday.

"Even as Russia orchestrates its shameful sham trial, we continue to do everything we can to push for Evan's immediate release and to state unequivocally: Evan was doing his job as a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. Bring him home now."

The US State Department says Gershkovich was  "wrongfully detained," and that it is assertively seeking his release.

Washington has previously described the detention of Gershkovich and another US citizen, Paul Whelan, on espionage charges as "hostage diplomacy." 

Gershkovich is the US-born son of immigrants from the USSR, and the first Western journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia.

He and other US citizens jailed in Russia have become embroiled in tensions between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country is open to the possibility of a prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich, and contacts between the two countries have taken place.

Gershkovich has been held in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison since his arrest. He has appeared healthy during previous hearings that saw his appeals for release rejected.

rc/fb (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)