In Russia, the final phase of the case against the journalist Gershkovich has begun

The Russian accelerated trial for espionage against the American reporter Evan Gershkovich has reached its final phase, reported AFP.
The 32-year-old correspondent for The Wall Street Journal is the first Western journalist in Russia to be accused of espionage since the Soviet era.
He was detained in March 2023 during a reporting mission in Yekaterinburg, after which he spent almost 16 months in Moscow's Lefortovo prison.
If convicted by a closed military court, he faces up to 20 years in a penal colony.
The latest closed-door hearing began around 10:45 a.m. local time (08:45 a.m. Bulgarian time) at the Sverdlovsk Regional Court in Yekaterinburg. The prosecution and defense teams were to present their final arguments.
The verdict could be announced as early as July 19 or at a later date.
The trial against Gershkovic has been moving at a rapid pace since the first hearing in late June.
Other similar cases in Russia dragged on much more slowly, with several weeks or even months between hearings. | BGNES