Russia Sentences American Reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 Years in Prison

A Russian court on Friday sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a high-security penal colony on dubious espionage charges.

Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, Russia. He was detained for over a year before the Russian government detailed any of the charges against him. Gershkovich was eventually accused of “gathering secret information” for the CIA on a plant near Yekaterinburg that produces and repairs Russian military equipment.

Russian officials claim Gershkovich was “caught red-handed” and they have “irrefutable evidence against him,” but they have yet to produce any of it. The U.S. government and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) vehemently deny all charges against him.

Gershkovich’s secretive trial began in June and was supposed to last until August, but closing arguments were abruptly moved forward this week. The verdict and sentence were handed down with a haste suspicious even by the standards of Russia’s politicized court system. No observers were allowed in the courtroom during the last week of the trial, and the judge held only two hearings before handing down the verdict.

“Evan’s wrongful detention has been an outrage since his unjust arrest 477 days ago, and it must end now,” the WSJ journal said on Thursday after closing arguments were suddenly moved up to Friday. “Even as Russia orchestrates its shameful sham trial, we continue to do everything we can to push for Evan’s immediate release and to state unequivocally: Evan was doing his job as a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. Bring him home now.”

The guilty verdict and sentence were not surprising, as Russian courts have a conviction rate of over 99 percent. There could even be reason for some optimism in the absurdly rushed trial and sentencing, as the Russians rarely agree to prisoner exchanges until their prisoners have been convicted and sentenced. Russian officials have recently hinted that a behind-the-scenes prisoner swap negotiation with the Biden administration is under way.

Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be sentenced for espionage in Russia since the end of the Cold War over 30 years ago. His lawyers have 15 days to file an appeal against his conviction.