Russia convicts US reporter of espionage in a trial believed to be politically motivated

Yekaterinburg (Russia), Jul 19 (AP) Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted Friday of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison on charges that his employer and the US government have rejected as fabricated.

The conclusion of his swift and secretive trial in the country's highly politicized legal system could potentially clear the way for a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington.

Gershkovich, his head shaved, looked calm as he stood in a glass defendants' cage in the Sverdlovsk Regional Court and listened impassively to the verdict. When the judge asked him if he understood it, the journalist replied yes.

After the judge finished reading the verdict, someone in the courtroom shouted, “Evan, we love you!” Closing arguments took place behind closed doors at the trial, where Gershkovich did not admit any guilt, according to the court's press service. Prosecutors requested an 18-year sentence, but the judge opted for a shorter term.

“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,” Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour and Editor in Chief Emma Tucker said in a statement.

“We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan's release and to support his family. Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he's released. This must end now,” the statement added.

Gershkovich, 32, was arrested March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the US.

He has been behind bars since his arrest, which will be counted as part of his sentence. Much of that was spent in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo Prison — a czarist-era lockup used during Josef Stalin's purges, when executions were carried out in its basement. He was transferred to Yekaterinburg for the trial.

Gershkovich was the first US journalist taken into custody on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, at the height of the Cold War. Foreign journalists in Russia were shocked by Gershkovich's arrest, even though the country has enacted increasingly repressive laws on freedom of speech after sending troops into Ukraine.

Unlike the trial's opening on June 26 in Yekaterinburg and previous hearings in Moscow in which reporters were allowed to see Gershkovich briefly before sessions began, there was no access to the courtroom on Thursday when the trial resumed, but media was allowed in court on Friday for the verdict. Espionage and treason cases are typically shrouded in secrecy.

Russian courts convict more than 99 per cent of defendants, and prosecutors can appeal sentences that they regard as too lenient. They even can appeal acquittals.

The US State Department has declared Gershkovich “wrongfully detained,” committing the government to assertively seek his release.

Asked Friday about a possible prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday at the United Nations that Moscow and Washington's “special services” are discussing an exchange involving Gershkovich.

Russia has previously signaled the possibility of a swap, but said a verdict would have to come first. Even after a verdict, any such deal could take months or years.

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel on Thursday declined to discuss negotiations about a possible exchange, but said: “We have been clear from the get-go that Evan did nothing wrong and should not have been detained. To date, Russia has provided no evidence of a crime and has failed to justify Evan's continued detention.” Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted earlier this year that he would be open to swapping Gershkovich for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving a life sentence for the 2019 killing in Berlin of a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent.

The Russian Prosecutor General's office said last month that Gershkovich is accused of “gathering secret information” on orders from the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a plant about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg that produces and repairs tanks and other military equipment.

The Federal Security Service, or FSB, alleged he was acting on US orders to collect state secrets but provided no evidence to support that accusation.

Lavrov on Wednesday reaffirmed the Kremlin claim that the government has “irrefutable evidence” against Gershkovich, although neither he nor any other Russian official has ever disclosed it.

US officials also have dismissed the charges as bogus.

“Evan has never been employed by the United States government. Evan is not a spy. Journalism is not a crime. And Evan should never have been detained in the first place,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said last month.

Russia's interpretation of what constitutes high crimes like espionage and treason is broad, with authorities often going after people who share publicly available information with foreigners and accusing them of divulging state secrets.

Earlier this month, UN human rights experts said Russia violated international law by jailing Gershkovich and should release him “immediately.” Arrests of Americans are increasingly common in Russia, with nine US citizens known to be detained there as tensions between the two countries have escalated over fighting in Ukraine.

US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Moscow of treating “human beings as bargaining chips.” She singled out Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan, 53, a corporate security director from Michigan, who is serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted on spying charges that he and the US denied.

Since sending troops to Ukraine, Russian authorities have detained several US nationals and other Westerners.

US officials made an offer to swap Gershkovich last year that was rejected by Russia, and the Biden administration has not made public any possible deals since then.

The son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, Gershkovich was fluent in Russian and moved to the country in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times newspaper before being hired by the Journal in 2022.

Gershkovich had over a dozen closed hearings over the extension of his pretrial detention or appeals for his release. He was brought to the courthouse in handcuffs and appeared in the defendants cage, often smiling for the many cameras.

The periodic hearings gave his family, friends and US officials a glimpse of him, and it was a break from his otherwise monotonous prison routine. But his mother, Ella Milman, said they also were a painful reminder that “he is not with us.” Friends say that while he was in Lefortovo, Gershkovich was not allowed phone calls and was allowed out of his cell for only an hour a day to exercise. He usually spent the rest of his time reading books in English and Russian and writing letters to friends and family.

He relied on his sense of humor to get through the days, according to those close to him. From behind bars, he organized presents for friends on their birthdays.

As he entered his second year in captivity in March, Milman said he was “telling people not to freak out,” but she admitted the strain for friends and family was “taking a toll.” (AP)