(MENAFN) Evan Gershkovich has become accustomed to a repetitive cycle during his dozen appearances in Moscow's courts over the past year.
Transported from Lefortovo Prison to the courthouse in a van by guards, the American journalist is consistently escorted in handcuffs to a defendants' cage before a judge for hearings regarding his pretrial detention on espionage charges.
These proceedings are consistently closed, his appeals routinely rejected, and his time in custody consistently prolonged, culminating in a return to Lefortovo.
Gershkovich's arrest occurred a year ago, on a reporting assignment for a US-based daily newspaper in Yekaterinburg, located in the Ural Mountains. The Federal Security Service (FSB) alleges that he was acting under U.S. directives to gather state secrets, yet no evidence has been presented to support these claims.
Both he and the daily, along with the U.S. government, vehemently deny the allegations, with Washington labeling his detention as wrongful.
These periodic court appearances serve as brief glimpses for Gershkovich's family, friends, and U.S. officials into his situation. For the 32-year-old journalist, they offer a departure from the otherwise mundane routine of prison life.
“It’s always a mixed feeling. I’m happy to see him and that he’s doing well, but it’s a reminder that he is not with us. We want him at home,” Gershkovich’s mother, Ella Milman, informed a US-based news agency.
Despite often maintaining a smile during his brief appearances in open court, friends and family reveal that Evan Gershkovich struggles with the experience of facing a barrage of cameras aimed at him, portraying him as if he were an exhibit in a zoo.
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