YEKATERINBURG, Russia—Closing arguments in the espionage trial of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich will be held Friday, a Russian court said, as the proceedings picked up speed in a case that has seen the reporter held in pre-trial custody for over a year.
Mr. Gershkovich attended a trial session for a second day behind closed doors on Thursday, the court said. He faces charges that he, his employer, and the U.S. government deny.
Unlike previous sessions in which reporters were allowed to see Mr. Gershkovich briefly before the proceedings began, there was no access to the courtroom and he was not seen, with no explanation given. Espionage cases are typically shrouded in secrecy.
Mr. Gershkovich, 32, was arrested on March 29, 2023, while he was on a reporting trip. Authorities said that he was gathering secret information for the U.S. The American-born son of immigrants from the USSR, Mr. Gershkovich is the first Western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia.
The U.S. State Department has declared him “wrongfully detained,” thereby committing the government to assertively seek his release.
Mr. Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday at the United Nations that Moscow and Washington’s intelligence services are discussing an exchange involving Mr. Gershkovich, according to Russian state news agency Tass. Russia has previously signaled the possibility of a swap, but it says a verdict would have to come first.
On Tuesday, the top U.S. envoy at the U.N. told Mr. Lavrov that Russian President Vladimir Putin should release Mr. Gershkovich and other Americans detained in the country.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield singled out Mr. Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan, 53, a corporate security director from Michigan, who was detained in Moscow in 2018, convicted of espionage in 2020 and serving a 16-year sentence.
Mr. Gershkovich’s trial began June 26 in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg after he spent about 15 months in in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s office said last month that the journalist is accused of “gathering secret information” on orders from the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a plant about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg that produces and repairs tanks and other military equipment.
Mr. Gershkovich’s employer and U.S. officials have dismissed those charges as fabricated.