US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia after an espionage trial that was widely seen as politically motivated.
A Russian court convicted the Wall Street Journal reporter on Friday for espionage charges. His employer and the US have rejected the charges as a sham.
Mr Gershkovich, 32, was sentenced after a secretive and rapid trial in the country's highly politicised legal system.
When the judge in the Sverdlovsk Regional Court asked Mr Gershkovich if he understood the verdict, he said yes.
Closing arguments took place behind closed doors at the trial, where Mr Gershkovich did not admit any guilt, according to the court's press service.
Matthew Luxmoore, Mr Gershkovich’s WSJ colleague, tweeted: “Evan [has been] given 16 years in a Russian prison simply for doing his job as a journalist.
“He and I started together at the Wall Street Journal in Moscow in January 2022 - he’s a great reporter and friend and I can’t wait to see him back in the newsroom where he belongs.”
He added: “Evan was subjected to a closed trial by a shadowy judicial system where acquittals are almost unheard of. No media or US diplomats were allowed in the courtroom and no public evidence was presented. It wrapped up within a month.”
NEW: Evan given 16 years in a Russian prison simply for doing his job as a journalist. He and I started together at the Wall Street Journal in Moscow in January 2022 - he’s a great reporter and friend and I can’t wait to see him back in the newsroom where he belongs #FreeEvan pic.twitter.com/s6ZfOkKzd9
— Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore) July 19, 2024
Mr Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg and accused of spying for the US.
He has been behind bars ever since.
The reporter was the first US journalist taken into custody on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, at the height of the Cold War.
Mr Gershkovich's arrest shocked foreign journalists in Russia, even though the country has enacted increasingly repressive laws on freedom of speech after sending troops into Ukraine.
Almar Latour, the chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker shared a statement.
This read: “This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist.
“We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family.
“Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now.”
US president Joe Biden has previously denounced the incarceration of Mr Gershkovich.
He said in a statement: “As I have told Evan’s parents, I will never give up hope either. We will continue working every day to secure his release.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday at the United Nations that Moscow and Washington's "special services" are discussing an exchange involving Gershkovich.
Russia has previously signalled the possibility of a swap, but said a verdict would have to come first. Even after a verdict, any such deal could take months or years.
US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel on Thursday declined to discuss negotiations about a possible exchange, but said: "We have been clear from the get-go that Evan did nothing wrong and should not have been detained.
"To date, Russia has provided no evidence of a crime and has failed to justify Evan's continued detention."
Asked about a potential swap, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said on Friday: “I’m leaving that question without an answer.
“There is a charge of espionage, so this is a very, very sensitive area.”
