Russia slams 16 years’ jail on Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovic after bogus espionage charges

Mr Gershkovic has become the first Western journalist to be arrested and imprisoned on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War.

Ahmed Oluwasanjo • July 19, 2024

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich [Credit: Sky News]

On Friday, a Russian court sentenced Wall Street Journal’s reporter Evan Gershkovic to 16 years in a maximum-security prison on charges of espionage.

Mr Gershkovic, a former reporter for The Moscow Times, was first arrested and detained in March 2023. He has become the first Western journalist to be arrested and imprisoned on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War.

In a statement, the court declared that although Mr Gershkovic did not admit guilt, “the totality of the evidence presented to the court was sufficient to render a guilty verdict.”

Dow Jones, the parent company of the Journal, dismissed Mr Gershkovic’s conviction as a “sham” and “disgraceful.”

In contrast to the court’s sentence, the Russian prosecutor had sought an 18-year prison term, accusing Mr Gershkovic of working for the CIA and “collecting secret information” about the tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod in the Sverdlovsk region.

This sentence represents the first espionage conviction of a Western reporter in modern Russia under Vladimir Putin.

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