{"id":28075,"date":"2024-07-20T05:59:47","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T09:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=28075"},"modified":"2024-07-20T05:59:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T09:59:47","slug":"russia-jails-us-journalist-gershkovich-for-16-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2024\/07\/20\/russia-jails-us-journalist-gershkovich-for-16-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia jails US journalist Gershkovich for 16 years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been found guilty of espionage by a Russian court and sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony, after a secretive trial decried as a “sham” by his employer, his family and the White House.<\/b><\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter was first arrested last March while on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,600km (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, by security services.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors accused him of working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), accusations that Gershkovich, the WSJ and the US vociferously deny.<\/p>\n

It marks the first conviction of a US journalist for espionage in Russia since the Cold War ended more than 30 years ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Both sides in the trial have 15 days to appeal against the verdict, the judge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and Editor in Chief Emma Tucker said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan\u2019s release and to support his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he\u2019s released. This must end now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Western politicians have roundly condemned the verdict. US President Joe Biden said Mr Gershkovich had “committed no crime” and was “targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American”.<\/p>\n

“Evan has endured his ordeal with remarkable strength,” Mr Biden added. “Journalism is not a crime. We will continue to stand strong for press freedom in Russia and worldwide, and stand against all those who seek to attack the press or target journalists.”<\/p>\n

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Russia was punishing journalism with its “politicised legal system”, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the sentence as “despicable”.<\/p>\n

Washington accuses Russia of holding Gershkovich as a bargaining chip, to be used for a possible prisoner swap with Russian citizens in foreign jails.<\/p>\n

But Moscow knows that the US is prepared to make swaps in order to release its own citizens, and the two countries are known to have been discussing such a swap.<\/p>\n

Russian observers say a quick conviction could mean that an exchange is imminent. According to Russian judicial practice, an exchange generally requires a verdict to be in place already.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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