US journalist Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years for espionage

On Friday, July 19, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court sentenced US citizen Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a maximum security colony.

The 32-year-old journalist was detained in late March 2023 in Yekaterinburg. He was accused of espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code). The punishment under this article may vary from ten to twenty years in prison. Gershkovich spoke of his innocence.

At a meeting on July 19, the prosecutor requested 18 years in a maximum security colony for Gershkovich.

According to the WSJ, Gershkovich's arrest on espionage charges is the first time when an American journalist was detained on such charges since the Cold War.

The trial was held behind closed doors, but journalists and diplomats were allowed into the courtroom to hear the verdict. The accused listened to the verdict calmly and said that he understood it.

British Consul General in Yekaterinburg Ameer Kotecha told reporters that he came to the trial to "express solidarity with Evan and support freedom of speech.”

WSJ spy in Russia

Little is known about the content of the charges against Gershkovich. According to the Federal Security Service, the journalist, "acting on instructions from the American side, collected information constituting state secrets about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

According to the intelligence service, he was detained while trying to obtain secret information.

The plot of the case, set out on the website of the Sverdlovsk District Court, states that the American journalist, on instructions from the CIA, in March 2023, collected secret information in the Sverdlovsk region about the activities of defense enterprise JSC NPK Uralvagonzavod for the production and repair of military equipment.

The Wall Street Journal insists that the journalist was engaged exclusively in journalistic activities in Russia and was also in Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk region to collect materials for the article.

The trial in the Gershkovich case began on June 26 of this year and proceeded behind closed doors. Only two meetings took place — on June 26 and July 18.

According to the WSJ, the second hearing was moved to an earlier date at the request of the defense — from August 13 to July 18.

Evan Gershkovitch was born in Princeton on October 26, 1991. His parents, Ella and Mikhail, emigrated from the Soviet Union, met in the United States, and had two children. Evan has a sister, Danielle.

Evan Gershkovich has been working in Russia since 2017, collaborating with The Moscow Times (recognized as an undesirable organization in Russia on July 10 of this year) and with French news agency AFP.

Gershkovich had worked for The Wall Street Journal since early 2022. He wrote articles about battles for Bakhmut and PMC Wagner. He also made reports from the city of Pskov, where one of the most well-known airborne divisions is located. He also wrote about the inner circle of President Vladimir Putin and the role of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, in military operations in Ukraine.

US and Russia in difficult dialogue to exchange prisoners

The Russian and US authorities are engaged in a "difficult dialogue” on the exchange of prisoners, President Vladimir Putin said last December. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, he admitted a possibility of exchanging Gershkovich "provided the painters act similarly in response."

In April, President Joe Biden said that his administration would continue to "work every day to ensure his release." According to Biden, the Russian authorities are trying to "use the Americans as a bargaining chip.” Paul Whelan, a former US marine, still remains in custody in Russia, Biden recalled. In 2020, Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison in an espionage case. According to the FSB, he collected data about the personnel of an intelligence service.

In May of this year, US presidential candidate Donald Trump said that he would be able to bring WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich back home. Trump expressed confidence that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would do this "for him.”

"I will have him out very quickly, as soon as I take office, before I take office,” Trump said during his debate with President Biden. "As soon as I win the election, I will have that reporter out,” he said.

Russia and the United States exchanged prisoners in December 2022, when Viktor Bout, convicted in 2012 in the United States for illegal arms trafficking, was exchanged for American basketball player Brittney Griner. She was detained in 2022 at Sheremetyevo Airport and sentenced to nine years in prison.