Russia sets hearing as it moves toward secret trial of falsely accused WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich

A Russian court said judicial proceedings in the case of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter held in Russia for over a year, would be held in secret, with the first hearing in a regional court beginning on June 26, the country’s state media reported.

The 32-year-old journalist, a U.S. citizen who was accredited to work in Russia, was falsely accused of espionage in an indictment approved by prosecutors last week. Gershkovich was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service while on a reporting trip for the Journal in March last year.