Russian court jails US reporter Gershkovich for 16 years after convicting him of espionage

By Andrew Osborn and Mark Trevelyan

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court found U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich guilty of espionage on Friday and sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony in a move his employer, the Wall Street Journal, called "a disgraceful sham conviction."

Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American who said the allegations against him were false, went on trial last month in the city of Yekaterinburg. He was the first U.S. journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War.

Video of the hearing released by the court showed Gershkovich in a glass courtroom cage listening to the verdict being read out in rapid-fire legalese for nearly four minutes.

Asked by the judge if he had any questions, he replied "No" in Russian.

The judge, Andrei Mineyev, said time Gershkovich had already served since his arrest nearly 16 months ago would count towards the 16-year sentence. He ordered the destruction of the reporter's mobile phone and paper notebook. The defence has 15 days to appeal.

The White House and State Department had no immediate comment.

"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," the Journal said in a statement.

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

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

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

Russian prosecutors had alleged that Gershkovich had gathered secret information on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency about a company in the Sverdlovsk region that manufactures tanks for Moscow's war in Ukraine, which he and his employer denied.

Officers of the FSB security service arrested him on March 29, 2023, at a steakhouse in Yekaterinburg, 900 miles (1,400 km) east of Moscow. He has since been held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison.

Earlier on Friday, the court hearing the case had unexpectedly said it would pronounce its verdict within hours after state prosecutors demanded he be jailed for 18 years for spying. The maximum sentence for the crime he was accused of is 20 years.

Russia usually concludes legal proceedings against foreigners before making any deals on exchanging them for Russians held abroad.

'WRONGFULLY DETAINED'

Gershkovich, his newspaper and the U.S. government all rejected the allegations against him and said he was merely doing his job as a reporter accredited by the Foreign Ministry to work in Russia.

State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel on Thursday declined to speak publicly about negotiations on a prisoner exchange, but said Washington was seeking the release of Gershkovich and another jailed American, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, as soon as possible.

The Kremlin has said the case and the trial arrangements were matters for the court. The Kremlin has stated in the past - without publishing evidence - that Gershkovich was caught spying "red-handed".

U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Russia of using Gershkovich and Whelan as bargaining chips for a possible prisoner exchange.

Washington considers both men "wrongfully detained" and says it is committed to bringing them home.

President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is open to a prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich, and that contacts with the United States have taken place but must remain secret.

Since Russian troops entered Ukraine in 2022, Moscow and Washington have conducted just one high profile prisoner swap: Russia released basketball star Brittney Griner, held for smuggling cannabis, in return for arms dealer Viktor Bout, jailed for terrorism-related offences in the United States.

(Reporting by Andrew Osborn in Moscow and Mark Trevelyan in London; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Gareth Jones, Peter Graff)