A Moscow court dismissed Wall Street Journal writer Evan Gerhskovich’s appeal on Thursday and maintained a previous decision ordering him to remain in jail until the end of August on espionage accusations.
The American citizen, age 31, was detained in late March while traveling for a reporting assignment. Last month, a Moscow court authorized his detention until August 30.
Defense counsel had appealed the judgment.
While waiting for the hearing to start at the Moscow City Court, Gershkovich, dressed in a black T-shirt and light blue pants, seemed anxious and walked around within a glass defendant’s cage.
Other media in the courtroom were ordered to leave before the hearing started, and it was held behind closed doors.
The session was attended by Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, and Gershkovich’s parents.
After the incident, Tracy told reporters that “Evan continues to show remarkable strength and resilience in these very difficult circumstances.”
Both Gershkovich and his company deny that he was a Russian spy. He has been unlawfully jailed, according to the U.S. government, which has called for his immediate release.
The authorities in Russia have not specified what, if any, evidence they have obtained to back the espionage claims, which has alarmed journalists in the country after his detention in the city of Yekaterinburg.
The notoriously brutal Lefortovo jail in Moscow is where Gershkovich is being kept. U.S. Embassy representatives were permitted to meet him once, but two other requests to see him were denied by Russian authorities.
Sergei Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister of Russia, revealed to reporters on Thursday that the embassy has once again requested a visit from the ministry.
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