A court in Russia on Friday sentenced Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, to 16 years in a high-security penal colony, ending his espionage trial on what were widely viewed outside Russia as fabricated charges. The verdict opens the way for a potential prisoner swap between the United States and Russia.
The harsh sentence represented the first espionage conviction of a Western reporter in modern Russia. But the expedited nature of the case suggested that Moscow might be ready to trade Mr. Gershkovich. The proceedings were recently moved up by more than three weeks, and the court concluded the case, a process that usually takes months, in a matter of weeks, with only three hearings.
The court said in a statement that Mr. Gershkovich did not admit guilt, but said “the totality of the evidence presented to the court was sufficient to render a guilty verdict.” Judge Andrei N. Mineev, who presided over the case, sentenced Mr. Gershkovich to two years less than prosecutors were asking.
At no time during the case, however, did prosecutors publicly provide any evidence to back up the charge, and the trial was held behind closed doors. The Russian judicial system for years has served as a tool of President Vladimir V. Putin’s domestic repression, handing down convictions and long sentences in cases with clear political motivations.
In Russia, once a person is charged with a crime, it is virtually impossible to get an acquittal in court. Only one in about 385 criminal court trials ended with an acquittal in 2023, according to court statistics.
Dow Jones, the parent company of The Journal, called the conviction “disgraceful” and a “sham.” The company added in a statement that, “We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family.”
In a statement President Biden said Mr. Gershkovich was wrongfully convicted and had committed no crime. “We are pushing hard for Evan’s release and will continue to do so,” he said.
Mr. Gershkovich’s defense can appeal the verdict. If they don’t, or if the appeal is overruled, he will be transferred to the sprawling Russian prisons system. According to the court, he will serve his sentence in a high-security penal colony reserved for repeat offenders and felons who committed grave crimes.
Russian officials have said that discreet talks were being conducted with the United States about Mr. Gershkovich, but that any prisoner swap would come only after a verdict was handed down.
On Wednesday, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei V. Lavrov, said that the two countries were holding talks on a possible swap involving Mr. Gershkovich, who was arrested almost 16 months ago. He was the first Western reporter to be arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War.
On Friday, Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said he would not comment on why Mr. Gershkovich’s trial was expedited and on whether there would soon be an exchange, according to Tass, a Russian state news agency.
Asked in a television interview in February about Mr. Gershkovich’s fate, Mr. Putin mentioned Vadim Krasikov, a Russian sentenced to life in prison in Germany for the brazen 2019 murder of a Chechen former separatist fighter in a downtown Berlin park. Mr. Putin hinted that he would consider a swap involving Mr. Krasikov, saying that it was up to the intelligence services “to come to an agreement” but that “some groundwork has been laid.”
Russian prosecutors said in their indictment that Mr. Gershkovich used “painstaking conspiratorial methods” to obtain “secret information” about a major Russian weapons factory about 75 miles north of Yekaterinburg.
But Mr. Gershkovich, his employer, and the American government have repeatedly denied the espionage charges against him, saying that he was accredited to work as a foreign correspondent in Russia and was engaged in journalism, not spying. They have called the charges politically motivated.
The court in Yekaterinburg, where Mr. Gershkovich was initially detained while on a reporting assignment, said in a statement earlier on Friday that it had concluded hearing evidence, including testimony from witnesses and a statement from Mr. Gershkovich, who was also interrogated as a witness.
The case against Mr. Gershkovich picked up speed Tuesday, when it was announced that the second hearing in his case had been moved ahead by more than three weeks. The first hearing in Mr. Gershkovich’s case took place on June 26.
On Thursday, during the second hearing, the court wrapped up its investigation of the evidence and hearing witness testimony.
Espionage cases in Russia usually take about four months but can take up to a year, according to lawyers who have worked on such cases.
There was no comment from Mr. Gershkovich’s lawyers. His case is classified, meaning they are prohibited by law from speaking publicly about it, under penalty of imprisonment.
Yevgeny Smirnov, a Russian lawyer who worked on similar cases, said that he could not remember a case involving charges this serious that was heard as quickly by a court.
“Here it is clear that the government has accelerated, trying to finish the proceedings,” Mr. Smirnov said in an interview with Zhivoy Gvozd, a news outlet. “I hope that the reason is positive, that an exchange has been agreed on.”
Mr. Smirnov said a swap involving Mr. Gershkovich would be dependent on a pardon from Mr. Putin, a step that by definition requires a conviction. Mr. Gershkovich’s defense might appeal the sentence, which would prolong the process.
Mr. Gershkovich is one of several American citizens who have been detained in Russia in recent years, and his case has raised fears that the Kremlin is seeking to use American citizens as bargaining chips to be exchanged for Russians held in the West.
On Thursday, a court in Moscow sentenced Michael Travis Leake, an American rock musician who had been living in Russia, to 13 years in a high-security penal colony after prosecutors accused him of organizing a drug trafficking ring.
Mr. Leake’s plea has not been made public. The court also sentenced Veronika Grabanchuk, whom it identified as his accomplice, to eight years in a penal colony.
Other Americans held in Russia include Paul Whelan, a Marine veteran; Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; and Marc Fogel, a teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, who in 2022 was sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony for drug smuggling.
In June, a Russian court sentenced Yuri Malev, who holds both American and Russian citizenship, to three and a half years in a penal colony after he criticized Russia, its leadership and its war in Ukraine on social media.
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