EKATERINBURGO.- A court in Russia on Friday sentenced the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by espionage, an accusation that both the newspaper and the United States have rejected, calling it a farce.
The journalist was sentenced to 16 years in prison after a secret and fast-track trial in Russia’s highly politicised judicial system.
Gershkovich, the WST and the US government strongly deny the accusation.
During closing arguments earlier in the day, prosecutors asked for 18 years in prison for the journalist during a closed-door session in a Yekaterinburg court, according to judicial officials. Russian courts convict more than 99% of defendants, and prosecutors can appeal sentences if they deem them too light and even appeal acquittals.
The journalist was in the courtroom for the second day in a row. Unlike previous sessions when reporters covering the trial were allowed to see him briefly before the start of the hearing, this week they were not allowed into the courtroom, with no explanations being offered. Espionage and treason cases are usually shrouded in secrecy.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested on March 29, 2023, during a business trip to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. Authorities claimed, without providing evidence, that he was collecting classified information for Washington. Gershkovich, born in the United States to immigrants from the USSR, is the first Western reporter to be detained on suspicion of espionage in post-Soviet Russia.
The arrest came as a surprise to foreign journalists in the country, even though the country has enacted increasingly repressive laws against freedom of expression since the start of its invasion of Ukraine.
Source: With information from AP
