Russian court sentences American journalist to 16 years on ‘spy charges’

A Russian court has sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison. Russian prosecutors had demanded an 18-year sentence, but the court reduced it by two years.

AP, DPA and others reported that a Russian court made this ruling, citing local Russian media.

Gershkovich was arrested on March 29 last year while reporting in Yekaterinburg, a city near the Ural Mountains. Russian prosecutors claimed that he had collected secret information on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), although they did not provide any separate evidence. He is the first American journalist to be arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War. Gershkovich and U.S. authorities have denied the charges.

Gershkovich was born to Russian parents who immigrated to the United States and holds American citizenship.

The AP said the Gershkovich trial “could open the way for a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington,” in which Russia detains American citizens, including journalists, and sentences them to harsh terms in exchange for its own prisoners held in the U.S. or other Western countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly suggested earlier this year that Gershkovich be swapped for former Russian intelligence agent Vadim Krasikov, who is currently imprisoned in Germany. Krasikov is serving a life sentence for the 2019 murder of a former Chechen rebel leader from Georgia in Berlin.

“Evan’s 477-day unjust imprisonment is outrageous, and it must end now. We will do everything we can to secure his immediate release,” the WSJ said. “Evan was doing his job as a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. Send him home now.”

<ⓒ투자가를 위한 경제콘텐츠 플랫폼, 아시아경제(www.asiae.co.kr) 무단전재 배포금지>