Journalist Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years by Russian court in case U.S. slams as a sham
American journalist Evan Gershkovich was jailed for 16 years by a Russian court Fafter he was found guilty of espionage.
American journalist Evan Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security prison by a Russian court Friday after he was found guilty of espionage in a case that his employer, The Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. government have condemned as a sham.
Gershkovich, 32, denied any wrongdoing in the case, which went to trial last month in the city of Yekaterinburg more than a year after he was arrested in the southern Russian city on espionage charges.
The Sverdlovsk Regional Court’s press service told NBC News in a telephone interview that the state prosecutor had requested Gershkovich be sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment during closing arguments.
In a separate announcement, the court said Gershkovich had been found guilty of collecting secret information about the activities of a defense enterprise for the production and repair of military equipment on instructions from U.S. intelligence services.
The Sverdlovsk Regional Court’s Judge Andrei Mineyev remanded Gershkovich into custody until his sentence can be legally enforced. The journalist is also expected to cover the legal fees, amounting to just over $75.
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