The espionage trial of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter jailed in Russia, enters its final phase on Friday as the court begins hearing closing arguments.

The prosecution considers the allegations made in the closed-door proceedings, which opened in Yekaterinburg on June 26, to have been proven beyond a doubt.

Russian media said 32-year-old Mr Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He and his employer deny the charges.

Press freedom advocates, media outlets around the globe, and the U.S. government have also condemned Russia’s prosecution of Gershkovich as a sham and demanded his release.

It was unclear when the judgment would be handed down, but court watchers said a guilty verdict, considered a certainty and sentence, was possible soon.

A court spokesman earlier on Thursday, the trial’s second day, said that the presentation of the prosecution’s evidence and witness testimony had been carried out and concluded.

Mr Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023.

He was accused of gathering information on the Uralvagonzavod defence equipment factory in Nizhny Tagil, which lies 130 kilometres to the north of Yekaterinburg, on behalf of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker issued a statement at the start of the trial describing the proceedings in the Ural Mountains city as “shameful and illegitimate.”

Like many Western journalists, Mr Gershkovich had worked and researched in Russia with accreditation from the Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

The Kremlin said recently that talks were underway regarding an exchange of Russian prisoners held in the U.S. for Mr Gershkovich’s freedom.

The detention of U.S. citizens in Russia often leads to fraught negotiations between Moscow and Washington. 

(dpa/NAN)