Yekaterinburg (Russia), Jul 19 (AP) Court officials said closing arguments began Friday in the trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who faces charges of spying that he, the Journal and the US government have vehemently denied.

US officials and The Wall Street Journal have denounced the trial that began last month as a sham and illegitimate.

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Gershkovich, 32, has remained in custody since his arrest in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. He is the first Western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia.

Gershkovich's arrest shocked foreign journalists in Russia, even though the country has enacted increasingly repressive laws on freedom of speech after sending troops into Ukraine. (AP)

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