Wall Street Journal reporter and Princeton native Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in a Russian penal colony, following his conviction on espionage charges July 19, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Gershkovich has been imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison since March 2023. The prison has been used to house political prisoners since the days of the Soviet Union, the newspaper reported.
Gershkovich was arrested while on a reporting assignment in Yekaterinburg, which is about 900 miles east of Moscow. He is accredited as a foreign correspondent by Russian authorities.
He was indicted in June for allegedly gathering information about a Russian defense contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency – a claim that The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have denied. He did not admit guilt on the last day of his trial on July 19, the newspaper reported.
“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,” said Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker. Latour is also the CEO of Dow Jones, which is the parent company of The Wall Street Journal.
“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 is released. This must end now,” Latour and Tucker said in the joint statement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer whether a possible exchange may be in store for Gershkovich, according to The Wall Street Journal. A prisoner swap had been raised several months ago, but it was rejected by Russian authorities.
Gershkovich grew up in Princeton as the child of Russian emigres. He played soccer and was the captain of the Princeton High School soccer team in 2009. The team went on to win the state championship.
Gershkovich is believed to be the first American reporter to be held as an accused spy in Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed, according to The New York Times.
The last American reporter to be detained was U.S. News and World Report correspondent Nicholas Daniloff in 1986. He was released in exchange for a Russian citizen who was being held in the United States on charges of espionage.
Gershkovich graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine in 2014. He majored in philosophy and English, according to published reports in The Washington Post. He got his start in journalism as an assistant at The New York Times.
He previously reported for the Moscow Times, which is an independent English-language news outlet in Russia. He also worked for Agence France-Presse before joining The Wall Street Journal in January 2022.
