"The decision of the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow to be left unchanged, the appeal [of Gershkovich's defense team] - not satisfied," the judge said.
US Ambassador in Russia Lynne Tracy said that Washington expected Moscow to grant a continuous consular access to Gershkovich and called for his immediate release.
"I was able to meet Evan yesterday at the court of the prison. It was the first time he was granted counselor access since his wrongful detention more than two weeks ago … We expect the Russian authorities to provide continuous counselor access to Evan," Tracy said after the hearing.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich does not consider himself guilty and is ready to prove it in court, his lawyer Tatyana Nozhkina told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"He has a fighting spirit, he does not plead guilty and is ready to prove it," the lawyer said.
Earlier in the day, the Moscow City Court ruled that placing Gershkovich in pretrial detention center for two months was lawful.
"The decision of the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow to be left unchanged, the appeal [of Gershkovich’s defense team] - not satisfied," the judge said.
On March 30, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that it had detained Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of conducting acts of espionage for the United States. The FSB said Gershkovich collected classified information regarding the activities of one of the firms of Russia's military-industrial complex.
The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow ruled that the reporter be put in pre-trial detention until May 29.