Arrested reporters in Russia

Wall Street Journal condemns: "Disgraceful mock trial"

Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and editor-in-chief Emma Tucker condemn the newspaper's reporter Evan Gershkovich being sentenced to 16 years in prison for spying in Russia.

They write that the verdict against him came during a "shameful mock trial".

"Journalism is not a crime, we will not rest until he is released," they write.

Gershkovich was arrested in Russia over a year ago. According to US authorities and experts, the arrest was arbitrary and politically motivated. Gershkovich himself, the WSJ and US authorities strongly deny that he was in Russia to spy.

Reporters Without Borders calls the verdict a "state hostage-taking", writes AFP.

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Evan Gershkovich is sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia

A Russian court has sentenced The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison for espionage, Reuters reports.

Gershkovich - who was arrested in March 2023 in Yekaterinburg in the Ural region - is the first Western journalist to be convicted of espionage in Russia since the Soviet Union.

“Evan worked for The Moscow Times in Russia for three years. He is a journalist who has been unjustly imprisoned for doing his job," writes The Moscow Times editorial board on its website.

In addition to The Moscow Times, Gershkovich worked for the international news agency AFP before joining The Wall Street Journal in January 2022.