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WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich is sentenced to 16 years in Russia on trumped-up spying charges after sham closed trial
Vladimir Putin's cronies falsely accused the Wall Street Journal reporter of spying on Russia for the CIA
A RUSSIAN court sentenced innocent American journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison today following a sham trial.
Evan, 32, pleaded not guilty during the closed-door trial over bogus espionage charges, which came to an unexpectedly fast end on Friday.
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The Wall Street Journal reporter has been wrongly accused by Vladimir Putin's crooks of collecting "secret information" for the CIA.
They have offered no evidence of Evan's 'crimes' since he was arrested on March 29, 2023.
Prosecutors had requested a horrific 18-year sentence for Evan, the first journalist in Russia to be charged with spying since the Soviet era.
Pictures from the court in Yekaterinburg, south west Russia, showed him inside a glass cage as the verdict was read out.
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Evan defiantly smiled back at cameras as they delivered the 16-year sentence.
He was last seen in court in late June as proceedings began for the secret sham trial.
He has already spent 478 days, over 15 months, behind bars in Lefortovo prison.
Evan's family, his editors and the White House have always slammed the baseless Russian charges.
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The Wall Street Journal said after the sentencing: "This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raged: "The sentencing of
WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich is despicable and only serves to underscore Russia’s utter contempt for media freedom.
"Journalism should not be a crime.
"Gershkovich must be released immediately."
Asked today about a possible prisoner swap involving Evan, which despot Putin has spoken about before, Kremlin crony Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the United Nations this week that intelligence in Moscow and Washington are discussing a possible exchange.
Putin has said that Evan would need to be sentenced before any possible exchange - which could take months or years.
The WSJ has accused Russia of “stockpiling Americans” to trade them for Russians jailed abroad.
Espionage cases often take months to handle and the unusual speed of Evan's trial has stoked speculation that a US-Russia prisoner exchange deal could be on the table.
The US embassy said yesterday: "Regardless of what Russian authorities claim, Evan is a journalist.
"He did not commit any illegal actions. Russian authorities have been unable to provide evidence that he committed a crime or justification for Evan's continued detention."
In Evan's last public appearance on June 26 he defiantly smiled for cameras before press inside a Russian court were booted out.
A small group of journalists were allowed inside the Sverdlovsk courthouse, a thousand miles from St Petersburg, to see him as proceedings began.
Evan made no comment from inside the metal and glass box known in Russian courts as an "aquarium".
It was the only time journalists were allowed inside the room during the three-week trial.
Evan was first arrested while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg and has been held in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison ever since.
Russia accused him of "collecting secret information" about Uralvagonzavod, a military facility in the Sverdlovsk region, in June.
It was the first time Putin's authorities had revealed the details of their accusations against Gershkovich - after saying only that he was "caught red-handed".
Gershkovich, his family, his employer and the US have vehemently denied all charges against him - insisting the journalist was simply doing his job.
Washington said the charges have "zero credibility" and the Wall Street Journal slammed Russia's announcement of a "sham trial" as "outrageous".
His wrongful detention is a blow to press freedom, and it should matter to anyone who values free society
Emma Tucker, Wall Street Journal editor
The Wall Street Journal's chief editor Emma Tucker and top executives said: "Evan Gershkovich is facing a false and baseless charge.
"Russia's latest move toward a sham trial is, while expected, deeply disappointing and still no less outrageous."
After news of his upcoming sham trial, Tucker said: "His wrongful detention is a blow to press freedom, and it should matter to anyone who values free society.
"We will not rest until he is free."
The US last year declared Gershkovich "wrongfully detained" - meaning the White House regards him as a political hostage.
"We have been clear from the start that Evan has done nothing wrong," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
"He should never have been arrested in the first place.
"The charges against him are false, and the Russian government knows that they are false. He should be released immediately."
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Timeline of Evan Gershkovich's detainment
FALSELY jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained on baseless accusations of espionage since March, 2023.
Here is a timeline of key events:
Russia's security service, the FSB, charged him with espionage - a charge that he, the WSJ and the US government deny.
They argue - without evidence - that he collected “information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
Day 12: April 10, 2023 - The US designated Gershkovich wrongfully detained and launched effort on Russia to free him.
Day 20: April 18, 2023 - A Moscow court upheld his pre-trial detention, denied him bail and ordered him to be held in the capital's infamous Lefortovo prison.
Day 55: May 23, 2023 - Gershkovich's detention was extended until at least August 30.
His parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, travelled to the hearing and said "any parents who loves their kid would travel to the end of the world to be with them for give minutes."
Day 76: June 13, 2023 - The White House called on Russia to immediately free Gershkovich and also free former US marine Paul Whelan, who was convicted of espionage in 2020.
Day 85: June 22, 2023 - A Moscow court upheld the extension of Gershkovich's detention until at least August 30.
Day 100: July 7, 2023 - The world's press stood for solidarity with the reporter as his shameful detention reached 100 days.
Day 174: September, 19, 2023 - Gershkovich had another appeal for freedom blocked.
Day 195: October 10, 2023 - The US reporter had yet another appeal denied which would see his detention extended until at least November 30.
Day 244: November 28, 2023 - A court ruled Gershkovich would remain in pre-trial detention until at least January 30.
Day 303: January 26, 2024 - The innocent journalist's time behind bars was extended until the end of March.
Day 316: February 8, 2024 - Vladimir Putin tells US TV host Tucker Carlson a deal could be reached between Russia and the US over Gershkovich.
Day 363: March 26, 2024: Gershkovich's detention will drag on until June 30 as he nears one year behind bars.
Day 442: June 13, 2024: Russian authorities announce he will stand trial over bogus accusations that the reporter was spying for the CIA
Day 455: June 26, 2024: Closed-door sham trial begins in Yekaterinburg at the Sverdlovsk courthouse with Evan appearing inside a glass cage
In February, Putin, 71, said he would like to see Gershkovich freed as part of a prisoner exchange and that talks were ongoing.
But the Russian tyrant made clear he wanted any deal to involve the release of a Russian jailed in Germany for killing a Chechen dissident, assumed to be Vadim Krasikov.
He is serving a life sentence for the 2019 killing in Berlin of a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent.
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The Kremlin has said there has been "contact" with the US on a possible exchange involving Gershkovich.
"But they (talks) need to be held in total silence," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
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