The court said the “period of detention” of Gershkovich was extended by two more months until Jan 30.

The 32-year-old Wall Street Journal Moscow correspondent, his employer, and the US government have rejected the spying allegations.

The hearing was held behind closed doors, and no press was allowed inside.

AFP saw a handful of reporters waiting outside the courtroom.

The extension of his detention was almost certain, as Moscow rarely releases people imprisoned while awaiting trial on serious charges.

Gershkovich was arrested during a reporting trip at the end of March in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, becoming the first Western reporter to be jailed on spy charges in Russia since the Soviet era.

He has been held at Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison.

The American, who previously worked for AFP, continued to report from Russia after the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive, despite many Western journalists leaving the country.

Russia has not provided public evidence of the allegations it has made against Gershkovich.