(Bloomberg) -- A Russian court sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a penal colony after finding him guilty of espionage, the Interfax news service reported Friday.
The court’s verdict came after a closed-door hearing in Yekaterinburg’s Sverdlovsk Regional Court that had been moved up almost a month from its originally scheduled date of Aug. 13. Prosecutors earlier Friday said they were seeking an 18-year sentence for the high-profile American prisoner.
Gershkovich, 32, and the newspaper have denied Russian Federal Security Service accusations that he was spying for the CIA when he was detained during a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg in March 2023. Gershkovich again denied the charge during Friday’s hearing, the RIA Novosti news service reported.
The sentencing could lay the groundwork for Russia and the US to negotiate a potential swap deal involving Gershkovich, as Russian officials have said talks on a possible exchange could only take place after the trial’s conclusion. It’s the first time since the Cold War that Russia has tried a US reporter for alleged espionage, which can carry a 20-year sentence.
The State Department has formally determined that Gershkovich was “wrongfully detained,” allowing the US to negotiate on his behalf.
Before the start of the trial, WSJ Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker said the “bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man who would then face up to 20 years in prison simply for doing his job.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said a deal to exchange Gershkovich was being discussed with the US. He said at a June 5 meeting with foreign media that the US was taking energetic steps to secure the reporter’s release.
Russia has previously suggested it’s seeking the return of Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing of a former Chechen rebel in Berlin.
American WNBA star Brittney Griner was exchanged for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in 2022. Another American, former Marine Paul Whelan, remains incarcerated after being sentenced to 16 years in 2020 on spying charges he denies. Whelan was detained in December 2018 while attending a wedding in Moscow.
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