WSJ reporter faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of spying charges US says are politically motivated

A Russian court has begun a closed-door trial of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges that he, his employer and the US government have all described as politically motivated.

Gershkovich appeared in a courtroom in Ekaterinburg on Wednesday, his head shaven by prison authorities, after being transferred from the Moscow jail where has been held since March 2023.

Only the Duke and Duchess of Westminster outrank the likely Labour foreign secretary and artist Nicola Green in high society ranking

It is the list on which any member of the British beau monde aspires to appear, a guide to the most significant and desirable guests to grace one’s society party this summer.

The Social Power Index, compiled each year by the upper class style bible Tatler, is the familiar home of billionaires, dukes and it girls, and for the past two years has been topped by King Charles and Queen Camilla, described as “the power, the glory and the gatekeepers” of British high society.

Instead of just dropping the case, the Biden administration got a guilty plea and set a dangerous tone for reporters everywhere

Julian Assange is on the verge of being set free after the WikiLeaks founder and US authorities have agreed to a surprising plea deal. While it should be a relief to anyone who cares about press freedom that Assange will not be coming to the US to face trial, the Biden administration should be ashamed at how this case has played out.

Assange is flying from the UK to a US territory in the Pacific Ocean to make a brief court appearance today, and soon after, he may officially be a free man in his native Australia.

Trevor Timm is executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation