An American journalist Ivan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia last week on espionage charges, has appealed the decision to place him in pretrial detention, a Moscow court said Monday.
A spokeswoman for Moscow's Lefortovo court said: "The same (officially-appointed) lawyer who represented Gershkovich during his arrest filed an appeal."
"The date of the hearing on the resumption of pre-trial detention will be announced this week," she said, adding that another higher-level court would hear the request.
Alexei Melnikov, secretary general of the General Committee for the Control of Places of Detention in Moscow, said he visited the American journalist at Lefortovo prison.
He confirmed on Telegram that Gershkovic had not filed "any complaint" about the conditions of his detention, adding: "During the visit, he was cheerful and joked a lot during the conversation."
Ivan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal correspondent in Russia, was placed in pretrial detention last Thursday until May 29, in a measure that can be extended.
Espionage charge
Before starting work for the American daily in 2022, Gershkovich was an AFP correspondent in Moscow.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested the 31-year-old Russian-speaking reporter in Yekaterinburg in the Urals on charges of "espionage".
Both the reporter and the Wall Street Journal denied the charges against Gershkovich during a hearing in a Moscow court.
US President Joe Biden on Friday asked Moscow to "release" the American journalist, and the White House called the "espionage charge" brought against him "absurd".
The last prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington took place last December, when Russia handed over American basketball player Britney Grainer, who was imprisoned on drug trafficking charges, in exchange for Washington's release of arms dealer Viktor Boot.
Washington has repeatedly accused Moscow of arbitrarily detaining Americans for using them as bargaining chips in its quest for the release of Russian citizens detained in the United States.