The 53-year-old from Alabama is currently the only living person with an animal organ transplant
world3 days ago
US reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared at a court hearing partly open to the press on Tuesday for the first time since his arrest for espionage, an AFP reporter in the courtroom saw.
Gershkovich wore a checkered shirt, crossed his arms and smiled before the start of the hearing in Moscow, which is an appeal against his pre-trial detention.
US ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy could also be seen in the courtroom.
Journalists and the ambassador were allowed into the courtroom before the start of the hearing but were then ushered out and will only be allowed back in to hear the decision at the end of the hearing.
Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich, the US-born son of Soviet Jewish emigres, was arrested last month by Russia's FSB security service during a reporting trip in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
The FSB said the 31-year-old tried to obtain classified defence information for the US government but the details of the case have been kept top secret.
Gershkovich, who has also worked for AFP, is the first foreign journalist arrested on spying allegations since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Since his arrest on March 29, Gershkovich has appeared in court only once before -- at a closed custody hearing on March 30.
He was remanded in custody until May 29.
US President Joe Biden has called his imprisonment "totally illegal".
More than three dozen news organisations have also signed a letter to the Russian ambassador in the United States, denouncing "unfounded espionage charges".
"Gershkovich's unwarranted and unjust arrest is a significant escalation in your government's anti-press actions," the letter released by the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
"Gershkovich is a journalist, not a spy, and should be released immediately and without conditions," it added.
The 53-year-old from Alabama is currently the only living person with an animal organ transplant
world3 days ago
Sara had been subjected to 'acts of extreme cruelty' but Sharif and Batool had not shown 'a shred of remorse', says judge Cavanagh
world3 days ago
The UNHCR Director said that some of those fleeing could be linked to the former government or else be religious minorities with concerns
world3 days ago
Rafah residents say Israeli tanks pushed deeper towards the western area of Mawasi, known as a humanitarian-designated area
world3 days ago
Kamal Adwan is one of the last operational medical facilities in the north of the war-ravaged territory, with the WHO warning earlier this month that it was operating at a 'minimum' level
world3 days ago
A tsunami warning was issued after the quake, with waves of up to one metre forecast for some areas, but it was soon lifted by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre
world3 days ago
Vanuatu's vulnerability to earthquakes has consistently ranked it as the most at risk country globally under the UN's World Risk Index
world3 days ago
First elected to parliament in 2013, the former journalist joined Trudeau's cabinet two years later when the Liberals swept to power
world4 days ago