What to know about Evan Gershkovich's conviction for espionage in Russia

(19 Jul 2024)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4507228

ASSOCIATED PRESS
London - 19 July 2024
1. SOUNDBITE: (English) Emma Burrows, The Associated Press:
"Evan Gershkovich an American journalist was found guilty of espionage by a Russian court and sentenced to 16 years in a high security prison. He was arrested in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, around a thousand miles from Moscow while on a reporting trip in March 2023, a year after (Russian) President Vladimir Putin sent his troops to Ukraine. Gershkovich, his employer, the Wall Street Journal and the US government deny all the charges against him. The trial was held behind closed doors and the Journal and senior US officials dismissed it as a sham. Russian authorities claim Gershkovich was gathering secret information for American intelligence but the Kremlin has been accused of detaining several US citizens to use as bargaining chips in prisoner swaps. Putin has hinted Gershkovich could be swapped for a Russian assassin being held in Germany. Russian officials previously said they'd consider a prisoner swap only after a verdict but now that's happened negotiations could still take months or years. And they could be made more complicated because of tensions between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine and because there is an upcoming U.S. presidential election. Until then, Gershkovich remains behind bars, facing more than a decade and a half in a Russian prison."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Moscow - 30 March 2023
2. STILL of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is escorted by officers from the Lefortovsky court to a bus, in Moscow

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Moscow - 18 April 2023
3. STILL of Gershkovich standing in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Moscow - 19 September 2023
4. STILL of Gershkovich standing in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Moscow - 14 December 2023
5. STILL of Gershkovich standing in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yekaterinburg - 19 July 2024
6. STILL of Gershkovich in glass cage during verdict on espionage charges
7. Various of Gershkovich in glass cage in courtroom
8. Wide of courtroom, journalists and police
9. Wide of Gershkovich waving, being led out by police UPSOUND (Russian) woman, no name given: “Evan, we love you!”
STORYLINE:
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted on Friday of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison on charges that his employer and the U.S. government have rejected as fabricated.

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

Gershkovich, his head shaved and looking thin in a dark T-shirt, was calm as he stood in a glass defendants’ cage in the Sverdlovsk Regional Court.

He listened impassively to the verdict but gave an occasional smile. When Judge Andrei Mineyev asked him if he had any questions about the verdict, he replied “No, your honor.”

Closing arguments took place behind closed doors and 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.

U.S. President Joe Biden said after the conviction that Gershkovich “was targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American.”


Gershkovich, 32, was arrested March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg.