American Journalist Sentenced to 16 Years in Russian Prison for Espionage
American journalist Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison after being convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial, state media reports. The 32-year-old correspondent for The Wall Street Journal pleaded not guilty, with his employer and the United States denouncing the charges as fabricated. Gershkovich was arrested on March 29, 2023, during a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. He was accused by prosecutors of gathering secret information about Uralvagonzavod, a plant manufacturing tanks for Russia's war in Ukraine, allegedly on the orders of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This case marks the first instance of a Western journalist being arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia. Both Gershkovich, his newspaper, and the US government contend that he was simply performing his journalistic duties with proper accreditation from Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The prosecution had initially sought an 18-year sentence from the Sverdlovsk Regional Court in Yekaterinburg. More details on this developing story are awaited. (Source: Al Jazeera)
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