A MOSCOW court is seeking to extend the pretrial detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich after he was arrested on bogus spy charges.
The 31-year-old journalist was deemed wrongfully held by the US and has now spent over 100 days behind bars.
The US citizen was detained by the FSB while on a reporting trip in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on March 29 after allegations of espionage.
Allegations that Evan, the Journal, and the US Government vehemently deny.
A series of appeals to release him from prison were denied after his pretrial detention was originally set to expire on May 29.
A new release date was set for August 30, but on Wednesday Vladimir Putin's spooks put forward a request to further extend the detention for an unspecified length of time.
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According to the country's criminal code, pretrial detention can be extended for up to 12 months.
Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court will now hold a hearing on Thursday to hear the application, according to reports from Russian state media outlet TASS.
A statement from the Wall Street Journal slammed the decision as "outrageous" and demanded Evan be freed.
It read: "Evan’s wrongful detention is outrageous and we continue to demand his immediate release."
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Previously the WSJ called the arrest "a vicious affront to a free press that" should spur outrage in all free people and governments throughout the world".
While adding: "No reporter should ever be detained for simply doing their job."
Supporters of press freedom have also urged others to show their support for Evan by flooding social media with the message #IStandWithEvan.
Following his arrest in March, Evan's lawyers requested that he be held on house arrest or released on bail – both were denied by the Russian court.
The WSJ reporter has been held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison ahead of his trial, which has no set date.
If convicted of the trumped-up charges he could face up to 20 years in prison.
The FSB has not provided any evidence of his supposed crimes, only stating that the journalist was "acting on instructions of the American side."
He is the first American journalist to be held on spy charges since the end of the Cold War.
Last month the White House confirmed that talks about a potential prison swap had taken place but that they had "not produced a clear pathway to a resolution".
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