Russian court sentences Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison

A Russian court sentenced Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison on charges of espionage.

The guilty verdict came Friday hours after closing arguments in what many in the U.S. have called a baseless trial.

“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," Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour and Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker said in a statement Friday.

"We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family," they said. "Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now.”

Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American, went on trial last month in the city of Yekaterinburg.

Russian prosecutors had accused him of gathering secret information on behalf of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and asked for an 18-year sentence. He was the first U.S. journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War.

Gershkovich, his employer and the US government deny the charges and say the reporter was just doing his job as a journalist.

"This bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man," Tucker had written in a letter last month, ahead of the conviction.

President Joe Biden responded to the conviction, saying in a statement that Gershkovich is innocent and was targeted for being a journalist and American.

"As I have long said and as the (United Nations) also concluded, there is no question that Russia is wrongfully detaining Evan. Journalism is not a crime," Biden said. "...Evan has endured his ordeal with remarkable strength. We will not cease in our efforts to bring him home. And Jill and I are holding Evan and his family in our prayers."

The White House is "pushing hard" for Gershkovich's release, the president said.

Espionage cases often take months to handle and the unusual speed at which his trial was held behind closed doors - Friday's hearing was only the third in the trial - has stoked speculation that a long-discussed U.S.-Russia prisoner exchange deal involving him and potentially other Americans detained in Russia may be in the offing.

Sergei V. Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said Wednesday that there had been discreet talks between the U.S. and Russia about a potential prisoner swap, the New York Times reported.

The Kremlin, when asked by Reuters on Friday about the possibility of such an exchange, declined to comment: "I'll leave your question unanswered," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Contributing: Andrew Osborn and Mark Trevelyan, Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Russian court sentences reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison