A Russian judge has sentenced a former Wall Street Journal columnist to 16 years in prison and convicted a former American citizen on spy costs.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation stated in a Friday, July 19 , media statement that the court established and documented an American journalist for The Wall Street Journal Gershkovich, on project from the CIA, who had in March 2023 collated key information about the activities of the security company JSC NPK Uralvagonzavod for the production and repair of defense equipment.
The Russian government department stated that the sentence of 16 years was in accordance with their imprisonment demands.
Following three days of closed-door hearings in a case that the Wall Street Journal and the U.S. authorities have called unlawful, the faith and sentencing come after the prosecution was criticized by the government.
” Regardless of what Russian government claim, Evan is a blogger. He did not commit any illegal activities. Russian officials have been unable to provide proof that he committed a crime or rationale for Evan’s extended detention”, the U. S. Embassy in Moscow , said , on Thursday, ahead of the conviction.
Russia’s Federal Security Service ( FSB), detained Gershkovich on March 29, 2023. Gershkovich was charged by the Russian government with collating sensitive data at a Russian tank manufacturing facility.
Gershkovich’s next content before his imprisonment alleged evidence of economic analysis within Russia. The , post, at items, focused on Russia’s efforts to boost production of military cars and products. The Wall Street Journal published the article on March 28, 2023, one moment before Gershkovich’s arrest.
” This terrible, sham judgment comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, unfairly detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his work as a journalist”, Almar Latour, the chief executive of Dow Jones and editor of The Wall Street Journal, and Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker said in a , statement , following the Friday conviction.
One of the many Americans being detained by the Russian authorities is Gershkovich.
Since December 2018, Russia has detained retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. Much like Gershkovich’s event, Russian authorities arrested and charged Whelan with spying, even as the U. S. authorities insisted he was being wrongfully detained. In July 2020, a Russian judge found Whelan innocent and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.
U. S. State Department deputy director Vedant Patel declined to give specifics, at a July 18 , media briefing, about negotiations for the transfer of imprisoned U. S. citizens, but said the U. S. federal is seeking to completely Gershkovich and Whelan.
This article was originally published by , FreeBase News , and is reprinted with permission.
