US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been convicted of espionage by a Russian court and sentenced to 16 years in a high-security prison, after a secret trial condemned as a “sham” by his company, family and the White House.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter was first detained in March last year while on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,600 km (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, by security services.
Prosecutors accused him of working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), allegations that Gershkovich, the WSJ and the United States all vehemently deny.
It is the first time an American journalist has been convicted of espionage in Russia since the end of the Cold War more than 30 years ago.
The judge said both sides in the trial have 15 days to appeal the ruling.
“This shameful, spurious sentence comes after Evan spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully imprisoned, separated from family and friends, and prevented from reporting the news, all for doing his job as a journalist,” Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said in a statement.
“We will continue to do everything we can to press for Evan’s release and support his family.
“Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he is released. This must stop now.”
Washington accused Russia of keeping Gershkovich as a bargaining chip to potentially swap prisoners for Russian citizens in foreign jails.
But Moscow knew that the United States was prepared to make a swap to release its citizens, and the two countries were known to have discussed such a swap.
Russian observers said a swift verdict could mean an exchange was imminent. Under Russian judicial practice, an exchange usually requires a judgment that has already entered into force.
In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at a possible exchange. in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson.
He is believed to be referring to Vadim Krasikov, a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) assassin serving a life sentence in Germany for shooting dead a former Chechen rebel commander in Berlin.
Evan Gershkovich’s trial began last month, and the final two-day trial was originally scheduled for August. Prosecutors had asked for an 18-year prison sentence.
But in a surprise move, the hearing was moved up to Thursday and the judge delivered his ruling late Friday afternoon.
In the indictment, prosecutors accused Gershkovich, 32, of acting “on the instructions of the CIA” to collect “secret information” about a tank factory in the Sverdlovsk region.
The reporter has repeatedly denied the allegations, and in a statement on Thursday, the WSJ called the trial a “disgraceful farce” and his arrest an “outrage.”
