In a high-profile case that has drawn international condemnation, a Russian court found US journalist Evan Gershkovich guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum-security penal colony. The Wall Street Journal, his employer, denounced the verdict as a “disgraceful sham conviction.”
Gershkovich, 32, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing. He was put on trial last month in Yekaterinburg, accused of attempting to gather sensitive information about a tank factory. His arrest in March 2023 marked the first instance since the Cold War of a US journalist being accused of spying in Russia, prompting numerous US and other Western correspondents to leave Moscow.
US President Joe Biden has vehemently defended Gershkovich, asserting his innocence and labeling his detention as wrongful. “We are pushing hard for Evan’s release and will continue to do so,” Biden said. “Journalism is not a crime.”
At Friday’s hearing, Gershkovich stood in a glass courtroom cage, listening as the verdict was read in rapid-fire legalese. When asked by the judge if he had any questions, he simply replied, “Nyet.”
Judge Andrei Mineyev declared that the nearly 16 months Gershkovich had already served since his arrest would be counted towards his 16-year sentence. Additionally, Mineyev ordered the destruction of the reporter’s mobile phone and paper notebook. Gershkovich’s defense has 15 days to appeal the decision.
“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,” the Wall Street Journal said in a statement. “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.”
Pjotr Sauer, a friend of Gershkovich and reporter for Britain’s Guardian newspaper, expressed his outrage on social media: “Russia has just sentenced an innocent man to 16 years in a high-security prison. I have no words to describe this farce. Let’s get Evan out of there.”
Friday’s hearing was the third in Gershkovich’s trial. The proceedings, except for the sentencing, were closed to the media due to claims of state secrecy. The unusual speed of the trial has fueled speculation about a potential US-Russia prisoner exchange, possibly involving Gershkovich and other Americans detained in Russia.
When asked about the possibility of such an exchange, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment, stating, “I’ll leave your question unanswered.”
One prominent figure Russia might seek to free in an exchange is Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 murder of a Chechen-Georgian dissident in a Berlin park.
Gershkovich was arrested on March 29, 2023, by FSB security officers at a steakhouse in Yekaterinburg, located 900 miles east of Moscow. Since then, he has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison. Russian prosecutors accused him of gathering secret information on behalf of the US Central Intelligence Agency about Uralvagonzavod, a company manufacturing tanks for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Uralvagonzavod factory, located in Nizhny Tagil near Yekaterinburg, has been sanctioned by the West and is known for producing T-90M battle tanks and modernizing T-72B3M tanks.
Earlier on Friday, the court announced it would deliver its verdict within hours after state prosecutors demanded an 18-year sentence for Gershkovich. The maximum sentence for the crime is 20 years. Russia typically concludes legal proceedings against foreigners before negotiating any prisoner exchanges.