(Refiles to right headline including reference to 16 years)
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court docket discovered U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich responsible of espionage costs on Friday and jailed him for 16 years, Russian information businesses reported, in a case his employer, the Wall Road Journal, has known as a sham.
Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American who stated the allegations towards him have been false, went on trial final month within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg. He was the primary U.S. journalist arrested on spying costs in Russia for the reason that Chilly Battle.
Espionage circumstances typically take months to deal with and the bizarre pace at which his trial was held behind closed doorways – Friday’s listening to was solely the third within the trial – has stoked hypothesis {that a} long-discussed U.S.-Russia prisoner alternate deal involving him and probably different People detained in Russia could also be within the offing.
The Kremlin, when requested by Reuters on Friday about the potential of such an alternate, declined to remark: “I’ll leave your question unanswered,” stated Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Russian prosecutors had alleged that Gershkovich had gathered secret data on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Company about an organization that manufactures tanks for Moscow’s conflict in Ukraine, which he and his employer denied.
Officers of the FSB safety service arrested him on March 29, 2023, at a steakhouse in Yekaterinburg, 900 miles (1,400 km) east of Moscow. He has since been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo jail.
Earlier on Friday, the court docket listening to the case had unexpectedly stated it could pronounce its verdict inside hours after state prosecutors demanded he be jailed for 18 years for spying.
The utmost sentence for the crime he’s accused of is 20 years.
Russia normally concludes authorized proceedings towards foreigners earlier than making any offers on exchanging them for Russians held overseas.
‘SHAM TRIAL’
Gershkovich, his newspaper and the U.S. authorities all rejected the allegations towards him and stated he was merely doing his job as a reporter accredited by the Overseas Ministry to work in Russia.
“Even as Russia orchestrates its shameful sham trial, we continue to do everything we can to push for Evan’s immediate release,” the Journal stated in an announcement on Thursday.
The U.S. embassy, additionally on Thursday, stated: “Regardless of what Russian authorities claim, Evan is a journalist. He did not commit any illegal actions. Russian authorities have been unable to provide evidence that he committed a crime or justification for Evan’s continued detention.”
State Division deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel on Thursday declined to talk publicly about negotiations on a prisoner alternate, however stated Washington was searching for the discharge of Gershkovich and one other jailed American, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, as quickly as doable.
The Kremlin stated the case and the trial preparations have been issues for the court docket. The Kremlin has acknowledged prior to now – with out publishing proof – that Gershkovich was caught spying “red-handed”.
U.S. officers have repeatedly accused Russia of utilizing Gershkovich and Whelan as bargaining chips for a doable prisoner alternate.
Washington considers each males “wrongfully detained” and says it’s dedicated to bringing them house.
President Vladimir Putin has stated Russia is open to a prisoner alternate involving Gershkovich and that contacts with the US have taken place however should stay secret.
Since Russian troops entered Ukraine in 2022, Moscow and Washington have carried out only one excessive profile prisoner swap: Russia launched basketball star Brittney Griner, held for smuggling hashish, in return for arms seller Viktor Bout, jailed for terrorism-related offences in the US.
(This story has been refiled to say 16 years within the headline)
