US journalist Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years in jail by Russian court
Evan Gershkovich
Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in jail on espionage chargesby a Russian court after just over three weeks of closed-door court proceedings.
After reading the verdict, the judge askedGershkovich if he understood the sentence handed to him. Standing in the dock and wearing a dark T-shirt,Gershkovich nodded and gave a brief wave before being escorted out by the security officers.
Notably, the prosecutors had sought an 18-year prison sentence for the American journalist.
Gershkovich is the first journalist in Russia to be charged and convicted of spying since the Soviet era.Gershkovich was detained on a reporting trip to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and has spent almost 16 months in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison.
BothGershkovich and his employer, WSJ have denied the charges, calling them politicallymotivated. During the trial, the 32-year-old journalist pleaded not guilty.
'Fake, sham legal process'
Meanwhile, Washington called out the Kremlin for the 'fake' legal process, adding that it will continue to work to secure the release of its citizens.
President Joe Biden said his government was pressing for the release ofGershkovich despite the judgement by the Russian court.
"We are pushing hard for Evan's release and will continue to do so," Biden said in a statement, adding that the Wall Street Journal employee had "committed no crime" and was "targeted" by Moscow for being a reporter and an Americancitizen.
Quizzed about a possible exchange of Gershkovich, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov deferred the question.
“I’m leaving that question without an answer. There is a charge of espionage, so this is a very, very sensitive area,” Peskov told reporters.
“We simply cannot give any other comments, because the trial is ongoing.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previouslyimplied he wants to see the release of Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted in Germany of killing a Chechen separatist commander. German judges said it was an assassination orchestrated by Russian authorities.
WATCH |Biden asks Russia to let Evan Gershkovich go
Gershkovich's arrest
According to reports,Gershkovich was covering a story inYekaterinburg when Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, successor to the Soviet KGB, picked up and detained him.
The initial version stated that he was arrested for acting at the behest of the US to collect “information constituting a state secret about the activities of an enterprise of the Russian military-industrial complex".
(With inputs from agencies)