U.S. reporter Gershkovich in Moscow court for new appeal against his detention

The United States says he was wrongfully detained and is demanding his release. The Wall Street Journal reporter is appealing against his continued detention in Moscow's Lefortovo prison ahead of his trial, for which no date has been set.

U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared before a Moscow court on Thursday in a new appeal against his pre-trial detention on charges of espionage that he denies. Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in March and accused by the FSB security service of collecting military secrets in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. The United States says he was wrongfully detained and is demanding his release.

The Wall Street Journal reporter is appealing against his continued detention in Moscow's Lefortovo prison ahead of his trial, for which no date has been set. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison. Gershkovich, wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt, stood in a glass box in the court room and exchanged smiles with journalists, who were briefly allowed to film him before the start of the proceedings.

Gershkovich, the son of parents who emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1979, was accredited by the Russian Foreign Ministry to report in Russia. His parents Mikhail Gershkovich and Ella Milman were once again at the court. Last month they travelled to Moscow and were able to enter the courtroom to watch part of the proceedings and see their son for the first time since his arrest.

U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy was not admitted to the courtroom, a Reuters reporter at the court said. Emma Tucker, the Wall Street Journal's editor in chief, told the BBC she had low expectations from Thursday's appeal but it was important to go through the legal process. In April, an earlier request from his lawyers that he be transferred to house arrest, agree to restrictions on his movements, or be granted bail, was denied.

Gershkovich is being held at a time when relations between Washington and Moscow are at the lowest point since the Cold War after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine last year in what it called "a special military operation." The United States has called him "wrongfully detained", a term used by the State Department to deem the charges bogus and the arrest politically-motivated.