Evan Gershkovich, the Jewish-American Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested on espionage charges in Russia, was on Friday found guilty of spying and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The court in Yekaterinburg announced the guilty verdict and sentencing on Friday shortly after 3:00 p.m. local time, according to CNN.
The court heard closing arguments and 32-year-old Gershkovich delivered his closing remarks behind closed doors on Friday morning.
The case’s rapid conclusion comes just weeks after Gershkovich first appeared in a glass cage at the start of his trial on June 26.
Gershkovich has been held on espionage charges since March 29, 2023, when he was arrested by Russian agents while on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg.
Gershkovich, the United States government, and The Wall Street Journal deny the allegations, for which the Russian government has not provided evidence. The US government considers him to be wrongfully held.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said Gershkovich was trying to collect secrets about Uralvagonzavod, a Russian defense enterprise that is one of the world's biggest battle tank producers, for the CIA.
The speed of the trial has raised questions over whether the Kremlin is intending to use him as part of a prisoner swap deal with the United States, noted CNN, suggestions which spokesman Dmitry Peskov left without comment when asked about them on a Friday conference call ahead of the verdict announcement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested in February that Gershkovich could be swapped for Vadim Krasikov, convicted of the 2019 murder of a Chechen dissident in Berlin, although he did not mention Krasikov by name.
In a statement following Friday’s sentencing, Gershkovich’s employer said, “This 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.
“We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family,” the statement from Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour and Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker continued.
“Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now,” it added.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)