A Russian court on July 19 sentenced Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in jail on what are widely viewed as trumped-up charges of espionage.
The sentence – slightly under the 18 years prosecutors had asked for – will be served in a maximum security penal colony.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in late March 2023 while working on a story about the Wagner mercenary group's recruiting methods, as well as Russian citizens' views on the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have denied all the charges against Gershkovich and have called them politically motivated. During the trial, the 32-year-old pleaded not guilty.
The journalist has been in pre-trial detention in Russia for more than a year on espionage charges. His trial began in Yekaterinburg on June 26.
U.N. human rights advocates have said Russia violated international law by imprisoning Gershkovich and should release him "immediately."
In June, the Russian Prosecutor General's office accused Gershkovich of "gathering secret information" on orders from the CIA regarding a military equipment plant located 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg. Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. government deny that he was a spy.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed on July 17 that there is "irrefutable evidence" that Gershkovich is guilty and claimed that the U.S. and U.K. have a long history of recruiting journalists as spies.
At a U.N. news conference, Lavrov said that Gershkovich's case is unrelated to any "attacks on journalism," according to the Associated Press.
"I would like to assure you that, just as much as you do, we are in favor of journalism and freedom of speech," Lavrov said.
Russia's descent into totalitarianism under President Vladimir Putin accelerated after the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with harsh crackdowns on independent media and free speech.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
