MOSCOW (AP) — The arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage costs has been prolonged to Nov. 30, Russian state information company Tass mentioned.

Gershkovich arrived on the Moscow courtroom Thursday in a white jail van and was led out handcuffed, carrying denims, sneakers and a shirt. Journalists exterior the courtroom weren't allowed to witness the proceedings. Tass mentioned they have been held behind closed doorways as a result of particulars of the prison case are categorized.

The prosecution had requested to increase his arrest from Aug. 30. He has appealed towards the extensions to his detention.

A 31-year-old U.S. citizen, Gershkovich was arrested Yekaterinburg whereas on a reporting journey in late March. Russia’s Federal Security Service mentioned Gershkovich, “acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

Gershkovich and his employer deny the allegations, and the U.S. authorities declared him to be wrongfully detained. Gershkovich’s case has been wrapped in secrecy. Russian authorities haven’t detailed what - if any - proof they've gathered to help the espionage costs.

Earlier in August, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy made her third go to to Gershkovich and reported that he seemed to be in good well being regardless of difficult circumstances. Gershkovich was being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo jail, infamous for its harsh circumstances.

Gershkovich is the primary American reporter to face espionage costs in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.

Analysts have identified that Moscow could also be utilizing jailed Americans as bargaining chips in hovering U.S.-Russian tensions over the Kremlin’s army operation in Ukraine. At least two U.S. residents arrested in Russia in recent times - together with WNBA star Brittney Griner - have been exchanged for Russians jailed within the U.S.

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