Another Sunday, another week of trials . . . and tribulations. The first part of the so-called “trial” of Evan Gershkovich — a two-hour closed-door session that can only be assumed to have been some sort of scripted preliminary proceeding — was held on Wednesday, June 26th, in the Sverdlovsk Regional Courthouse, Yekaterinburg, Russia.

As reported earlier this week, representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, as well as some journalists, were granted brief entry into the courtroom . . . but only prior to the proceedings; and they were not given access to Gershkovich. The only hard information to come out of Wednesday’s hearing was the continuation date of the trial: August 13th.

Whether coincidentally or not, another HOSTAGE, Russian-American Ksenia Karelina, is also being held prisoner in Yekaterinburg. Following a preliminary hearing in Moscow, she has been charged with treason; her trial is to be resumed in Yekaterinburg on August 7th.

It promises to be a busy week at the courthouse.

It is not yet known — and probably won’t be until the 11th hour — whether American Embassy personnel, legal counsel, or family members will be permitted to attend either trial, which have already been announced as being “closed” . . . or even to meet with the prisoners beforehand.

Due process . . . presumption of innocence . . . the very concept of justice itself . . . continue to be unknown under Russia’s legal system. With a conviction rate of 99%, one need hardly bother going through the motions.

Just sayin’ . . .

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And to another of the HOSTAGES named below, Ilya Yashin, belated best wishes on your 41st birthday (yesterday). May the coming year be infinitely better than the last.

Brendochka
6/30/24

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And to my readers: Please — once again — let us not forget the other HOSTAGES, still wasting away in various Russian prisons and penal colonies for the simple act of disagreeing with Vladimir Putin’s increasingly onerous edicts. It is for them that this regular Sunday posting — now at the half-year mark — is written.

To those known . . .

Vladimir Kara-Murza – HOSTAGE
Evan Gershkovich – HOSTAGE
Alsu Kurmasheva – HOSTAGE
Paul Whelan – HOSTAGE
Ilya Yashin – HOSTAGE
Robert Woodland Romanov – HOSTAGE
Boris Akunin – HOSTAGE
Marc Hilliard Fogel – HOSTAGE
Asya Kazantseva – HOSTAGE
Ilya Barabanov – HOSTAGE
Aleksandr Skobov – HOSTAGE
Antonina Favorskaya – HOSTAGE
Oleg Orlov – HOSTAGE
Boris Kagarlitsky – HOSTAGE
Oleg Navalny – HOSTAGE
Ksenia Karelina – HOSTAGE
Ksenia Fadeyeva – HOSTAGE
Lilia Chanysheva – HOSTAGE
Vadim Ostanin – HOSTGE
Sergei Udaltsov – HOSTAGE
Konstantin Gabov – HOSTAGE
Danuta Perednya – HOSTAGE
Olesya Krivtsova – HOSTAGE
Staff Sgt. Gordon Black – HOSTAGE

. . . and those hundreds of others whose names remain unknown to me . . . you are not forgotten, nor have you been abandoned. The fight continues on your behalf.

Brendochka
6/30/24