Gershkovich was convicted for alleged espionage, an accusation he, his employer and the US government vehemently deny, labelling the trial as a sham.
ADVERTISEMENTA Russian court on Friday sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison on espionage charges his employer and the US have rejected as a sham.
His sentencing came after a closed-door, quick-fire trial.
This week, the courtroom was not accessible during Gershkovich’s trial, and he was not seen, with no explanation given. Journalists were allowed in court on Friday for the verdict, however.
Gershkovich is the first US journalist taken into custody on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, at the height of the Cold War.
The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested on 29 March of last year while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg.
Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the US.
His arrest shocked foreign journalists in Russia, even though the country has enacted increasingly repressive laws on freedom of speech after sending troops into Ukraine.
“Evan’s wrongful detention has been an outrage since his unjust arrest 477 days ago, and it must end now,” the Journal said Thursday in a statement.
“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.”
Meanwhile, the US State Department has declared Gershkovich “wrongfully detained,” committing the government to seek his release.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the United Nations this week that Moscow and Washington’s “special services” are discussing an exchange involving Gershkovich.
Russia has previously signalled the possibility of a swap, but it says a verdict would have to come first. Even after a verdict, any such deal could take months or years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also hinted earlier this year that he would be open to swapping Gershkovich for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving a life sentence for the 2019 killing in Berlin of a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent.
Russian courts convict more than 99% of defendants, and prosecutors can appeal sentences that they consider too lenient. They can also appeal acquittals.
