YEKATERINBURG: US reporter Evan Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a Russian penal colony on Friday for “espionage”, a verdict reached after three weeks of secretive hearings condemned by Washington as a sham. Russia has a policy of not exchanging prisoners internationally unless they have already been convicted, potentially paving the way for Gershkovich to be swapped in a deal. The 32-year-old, who pleaded not guilty, became the first journalist in Russia to be charged with spying since the Cold War when he was detained in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in March 2023. Gershkovich was sentenced to “punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 16 years in a strict regime colony,” Judge Andrei Mineyev said, announcing the verdict as the reporter stood in a glass cage. The United States government and his employer, The Wall Street Journal, say the charges against him are false and believe he is being held as a “bargaining chip” to secure the release of Russians convicted abroad. His trial has moved rapidly since the first hearing in late June, with the prosecution and defence teams giving their final arguments on Friday. Other similar cases in Russia have dragged on far more slowly with several weeks or even months between hearings. When asked Friday, the Kremlin refused to be drawn into speculation about the prospect of a prisoner swap.
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