RUSSIAN COURT SENTENCES US JOURNALIST EVAN GERSHKOVICH TO 16 YEARS FOR ESPIONAGE

Sat 20 July 2024:

A Russian court has sentenced US journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison, concluding the espionage trial of the Wall Street Journal reporter in Yekaterinburg. The prosecution had initially demanded an 18-year prison term.

The trial, which started on June 26, was held behind closed doors. Press freedom advocates, global media outlets, and the US government have condemned the prosecution as a sham and demanded Gershkovich’s release.

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Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023. He is accused of collecting information on the Uralvagonzavod defense equipment factory in Nizhny Tagil for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker described the proceedings as “shameful and illegitimate.”

Gershkovich, like many Western journalists, worked in Russia with accreditation from the Foreign Ministry in Moscow. He spent over a year in pre-trial detention in a Moscow prison, with repeated but unsuccessful appeals against the extension of his detention.

Gershkovich’s arrest is viewed as a warning to foreign journalists working in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Paradoxically, his sentencing could expedite his return to the US, as a formal conviction is often required in Russia for a prisoner exchange.

The Kremlin has indicated that talks are underway for exchanging Russian prisoners held in the US for Gershkovich’s release. Another potential exchange target could be a Russian man convicted of murdering an ethnic Chechen man in Berlin.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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