What to know about Evan Gershkovich’s conviction for spying in Russia

The trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich ended Friday with his conviction on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government rejected as fabricated. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Here’s what we know about the secret process.

It happened at the Sverdlovsk Regional Court, in city ​​of Yekaterinburg, about 880 miles (1,416 kilometers) east of Moscow. This is the city where Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023, during a reporting trip.

The session was closed. Gershkovich was in the courtroom for the verdict and stood in the defendants’ glass cage wearing a dark-colored T-shirt. His head was shaved, just like at the beginning of the trial, in June. It is unknown whether he chose to shave or whether he was forced to do so.

Judge Andrei Mineyev said: “The court decided to find Evan Gershkovich guilty of committing a crime under Article 376 of the Russian Criminal Code and sentence him to imprisonment for a period of 16 years to be served in a high-security correctional colony. ”

The judge asked Gershkovich if he understood the verdict and he replied in Russian: “Yes, your honor.” The judge asked if he had any questions and Gershkovich replied, “No, your honor.”

As press cameras exited the courtroom, Gershkovich turned to wave as a woman shouted, “Evan, we love you!”

Gershkovich, the Son of immigrants born in the United States from the former Soviet Union, is the first Western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia. Russian authorities, without providing evidence, alleged that he was collecting secret information for the U.S.

The State Department declared him “unjustly detained,” thus committing the government to assertively seek his release.

The Journal’s editor, Almar Latour, and Emma Tucker, its top editor, called it a “shameful and false conviction” in a statement after the verdict. “Journalism is not a crime and we will not rest until he is released. This must end now,” said Latour and Tucker.

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

“We are pushing hard for Evan’s release and will continue to do so,” Biden said in a statement. “As I have long said and as the UN has also concluded, there is no doubt that Russia is unfairly detaining Evan. Journalism is not a crime.”

Gershkovich’s arrest came about a year after President Vladimir Putin’s pushed through laws which chilled journalists by criminalizing criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine and statements seen as discrediting the military. Most foreign journalists left the country after the laws were approved, but some returned. There are concerns about whether Russian authorities would attack them as animosity between Moscow and Washington grows.

After the verdict, Gershkovich was to be taken back to the detention center in Yekaterinburg, where he was detained during the trial. Both the prosecution and defense have 15 days to appeal the sentence. If there is no appeal, Gershkovich will be transferred back to prison.

If there is an appeal, Gershkovich will likely remain in Yekaterinburg until there is another hearing.

The transfer process could last days or even months, and it may only become clear where Gershkovich will serve his sentence when his lawyers are informed that he has arrived in prison.

Although Russia-US relations are at their lowest point since the Cold War, the countries negotiated a swap in 2022 that freed WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was serving a 9 and a half year sentence for possession of cannabis. Griner was exchanged for arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was imprisoned in the US

The countries also traded Navy veteran Trevor Reed, who was serving nine years in Russia for assaulting a police officer, and Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenkowho was serving a 20-year sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine.

Putin hinted that he would be open to exchanging Gershkovich for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 murder in Berlin of a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent. However, Germany’s willingness to cooperate is an open question.

It could take months or years. Russian officials have said a swap can only happen after a verdict but depends on when Moscow and Washington reach an agreement. Past experiences differ drastically.

Griner was exchanged about four months after his verdict. Reed was released in a trade 21 months after he was released. Whelan, convicted of espionage in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in prison, is still waiting.