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Russian court extends pretrial detention of Jewish journalist Evan Gershkovich until November
(JTA) — A Russian court has extended the pretrial detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich for another three months.
In a hearing on Thursday at Lefortovo District Court that was closed to press, a judge ordered Gershkovich to remain in detention until at least Nov. 30, a court spokeswoman said. Investigators from the FSB, a Russian state security agency, had requested the extension.
Gershkovich, 31, is the American-born son of Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union. He was arrested while on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg on March 29 and charged with espionage.
Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal and the United States government deny the charges. If convicted, he would face up to 20 years in a penal colony.
Gershkovich’s pretrial detention was initially scheduled to end on May 29 before it was extended until Aug. 30. This latest extension until November means he could remain in jail for eight months following his arrest, if not longer, before a trial begins.
In some criminal cases, according to Russia’s Criminal Procedure Code, pretrial detention can be extended for up to 12 months following arrest. But in other instances, courts grant further extensions as prosecutors and investigators prepare their case, the Wall Street Journal reported.
At a news conference in Helsinki last month, President Biden said the United States was “serious about a prisoner exchange,” which American officials have long seen as the most plausible way of securing Gershkovich’s freedom. In 2022, The United States obtained the release of WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was imprisoned in Russia, via a prisoner swap.
“I’m serious about doing what we can to free Americans being illegally held in Russia or anywhere else, for that matter,” Biden said. “And that process is underway.”
But in a briefing last month, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who met with representatives from The Wall Street Journal and Gershkovich’s family, said he did not want to “give false hope” about bringing him home.
“There have been discussions, but those discussions have not produced a clear pathway to a resolution, and so I cannot stand here today and tell you that we have a clear answer to how we are going to get Evan home,” Sullivan said.
Russian officials have previously hinted at a prisoner exchange. But discussions of a possible swap have hit roadblocks, according to the Journal, as the United States has been unable to extradite Russian prisoners held in German and Brazilian custody. Russia has not appeared to express any interest in prisoners currently in U.S. custody.
The Journal has reported that any consideration of a swap involving Gershkovich would have to wait until after a verdict is reached in his case, and that Russia may delay a prisoner exchange until after the 2024 presidential election in order to exacerbate discord in the United States.
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The post Russian court extends pretrial detention of Jewish journalist Evan Gershkovich until November appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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IDF Reportedly Targets Hezbollah Site Near Damascus
Illustrative. Damaged buildings are shown after what Syrian authorities said was an Israeli air strike in the western suburbs of Damascus, Syria in this handout released by state news agency SANA on April 27, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
JNS.org – The Israel Defense Forces conducted a targeted strike on an apartment in Sayyidah Zaynab, a hub for Iranian terrorist activity south of Damascus, Syrian state media claimed on Sunday afternoon.
Syria’s SANA news agency, citing a military source, reported that the Israeli Air Force targeted a building “in the Sayyidah Zaynab area of the Damascus countryside, resulting in a number of martyrs and wounded.”
IAF fighter jets targeted two buildings occupied by Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor affiliated with Syria’s opposition.
“The Israeli missiles targeted specific individuals in an apartment in one of the buildings, killing three people and injuring others,” the NGO said.
Israel rarely acknowledges attacks in Syria, although in February, Jerusalem revealed that it had struck more than 50 targets belonging to Hezbollah and other Iran-backed terrorist organizations in Syria since Oct. 7, 2023.
On Nov. 5, IAF fighter jets launched renewed raids on Hezbollah targets in the Syrian town of Al-Qusayr, near the border with Lebanon, attacking munitions depots used by the Lebanese terrorist army.
“Hezbollah’s Munitions Unit is responsible for storing weapons inside Lebanon and has recently expanded its activities into the area of Al-Qusayr, near the Syria-Lebanon border,” the military confirmed on X.
Israeli jets previously struck terrorism-related targets in Al-Qusayr on Oct. 31, including arms-storage facilities, and command and control centers used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force and its Munitions Unit.
On Nov. 4, the IAF attacked Hezbollah’s local intelligence headquarters in Sayyidah Zaynab. The site, located about six miles south of Damascus, was operating as “Hezbollah’s central intelligence body, responsible for intelligence assessments, the direction of intelligence activities, and the intelligence gathering and detection capabilities,” the IDF said.
Earlier this month, the IDF revealed that its forces captured a pro-Iranian regime terrorist operative during a raid in Syria. The raid was carried out by members of the Egoz commando unit along with field interrogators of the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504.
Ali Soleiman al-Assi, a Syrian from Saida in the southern part of the country, was tasked by Iran with “gathering intelligence on IDF troops in the border area for future terror activity of the network,” the military said.
“The operation prevented a future attack and led to the exposure of the operational methods of Iranian terror networks located near the Golan Heights. Al-Assi was transferred for further questioning,” it added.
The post IDF Reportedly Targets Hezbollah Site Near Damascus first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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PM Netanyahu Says He Ordered Beeper Attack on Hezbollah
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at Israel’s Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 18, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
i24 News – Speaking at a cabinet meeting, the prime minister claimed responsibility for the first time for the spectacular attack on Hezbollah members in September, which left around 2,000 wounded. He said that other cabinet members had opposed the operation, clearly referring to Yoav Gallant, his recently dismissed former defense minister.
The post PM Netanyahu Says He Ordered Beeper Attack on Hezbollah first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Saudi Armed Forces General Chief of Staff to Hold Talks in Iran
Illustrative. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on August 18, 2023. Iran’s Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
The general chief of staff of Saudi Arabia’s armed forces, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, will visit Tehran on Sunday to meet with his Iranian counterpart and discuss defense ties, state media reported the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff as saying.
The visit follows the election of Donald Trump, who will take office for a second term as US President in January, and who has promised to bring peace to the Middle East.
During his first term, Trump initiated normalization between Arab states and Iran’s regional arch-enemy Israel, known as the Abraham Accords.
Saudi Arabia has not established ties with Israel, but Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has discussed the possibility with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman multiple times over the last years, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Iran’s state media said al-Ruwaili will head a high-level Saudi military delegation in Tehran, meet Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and discuss bilateral and defence ties.
State media added that Bagheri held a phone call with Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud last year to discuss regional developments and improve defence cooperation between the two countries.
Tehran and Riyadh agreed in March 2023, via Chinese intermediation, to re-establish relations after seven years of hostility that had threatened stability and security in the Gulf and helped to fuel conflicts in the Middle East from Yemen to Syria.
The post Saudi Armed Forces General Chief of Staff to Hold Talks in Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.