Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter arrested last year in Russia, was sentenced today to 16 years in prison on what the U.S. says are trumped up espionage charges.
The guilty verdict and sentencing were announced this morning.
According to the Journal, Gershkovich was sentenced to a high security penal colony.
“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,” Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal Publisheer Almar Latour and Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker said in a statement. “We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family. Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now.”
Gershkovich was detained on March 29, 2023 by Russia’s security service. It was the first time that Russia has charged an overseas reporter with spying since the end of the Cold War. The Journal quickly denied the charges and the Biden administration declared that he was wrongfully detained.
In March, on the one year anniversary of his detainment, journalists held a read-a-thon in a show of solidarity and to call attention to Gershkovich’s captivity.
Gershkovich was a foreign correspondent accredited by the Russian government who was on a reporting assignment in Yekaterinburg. He was arrested on charges that he was gathering information on a defense contractor and acting on behalf of the CIA, even though Russian authorities have not provided public evidence, the Journal said.
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