A Russian court Friday convicted American journalist Evan Gershkovich of espionage and sentenced the American journalist to 16 years in prison, in what is widely viewed as a politically motivated case.
The court announced the verdict shortly after 5 P.M. local time on Friday, according to Russian independent media outlet Meduza.
Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has been jailed in Russia since March 2023 on spying charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny.
The Wall Street Journal in a statement Thursday described its reporter’s detention and trial as an “outrage.”
“Even as Russia orchestrates its shameful sham trial, we continue to do everything we can to push for Evan’s immediate release and to state unequivocally: Evan was doing his job as a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. Bring him home now.”
The State Department has declared the 32-year-old wrongfully detained, which commits the U.S. government to seek his release.
“We have been clear from the get-go that Evan did nothing wrong and should not have been detained,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters on Thursday. “To date, Russia has provided no evidence of a crime and has failed to justify Evan’s continued detention. Evan should not be detained.”
Gershkovich’s trial began on June 26 in Yekaterinburg, where the journalist was initially detained. The Ural Mountains city is about 1,400 kilometers, or 870 miles, east of Moscow.
Press freedom groups and The Journal have consistently condemned Gershkovich’s trial as a politically motivated sham.
“It’s certainly a sham trial. It’s a travesty of justice. The charges brought against him are spurious and unsubstantiated, and the whole thing is just a masquerade,” Gulnoza Said, the Europe and Central Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, told VOA in June, shortly before the trial began.
The U.S. embassy in Moscow did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment for this story.
Gershkovich’s trial has taken place in secret, behind closed doors, which is common practice in Russia for cases of alleged treason or espionage involving classified state material.
Gershkovich’s trial appears to have concluded much faster than expected. Based on similar previous trials, press freedom experts initially estimated that the trial would last a few months.
The second hearing had originally scheduled for August 13, but the court later moved it to July 18. The court then heard closing arguments on Friday.
Russian authorities have accused Gershkovich of “gathering secret information” about a Russian tank manufacturer for the United States.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday repeated the Kremlin’s claim of “irrefutable evidence” against Gershkovich, but the Russian government has to date failed to publicly disclose any evidence to support the claims against the journalist.
Lavrov said Wednesday at the United Nations that Moscow and Washington’s “special services” are discussing an exchange involving Gershkovich. Russia and the United States have been negotiating a possible prisoner swap for months, but the Kremlin says a verdict would have to come first.
Russia’s Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment for this story.
Gershkovich is one of two American journalists currently detained by Russia. The second, Alsu Kurmasheva, has spent nine months in custody.
The Prague-based journalist for VOA’s sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has been jailed since October 2023 on charges of failing to self-register as a foreign agent and spreading what Moscow views as false information about the Russian army.
Kurmasheva and her employer reject the charges, and the U.S. government has also called for her immediate release.
