News in Brief

Russian court jails US journalist Evan Gershkovich for 16 years on espionage charges

The Wall Street Journal described the 32-year-old's conviction as "disgraceful," and a "sham".

A man in a grey t-shirt standing in a glass cell in a courtroom

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was sentenced on Friday. Source: AAP / Dmitri Lovetsky/AP

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been convicted of espionage by a Russian court and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

The background: while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains and has been behind bars ever since.

The 32-year-old was the first US journalist taken into custody on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986 during the Cold War.

The key quote: "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." — The Wall Street Journal.
What else to know: Gershkovich's arrest shocked foreign journalists in Russia, even though the country has enacted increasingly repressive laws on freedom of speech after sending troops into Ukraine.

Closing arguments , where Gershkovich did not admit guilt.

What happens next: US President Joe Biden said Gershkovich did not commit any crime and has been wrongfully detained.

He said his administration was "pushing hard" for the journalist's release.


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2 min read
Published 20 July 2024 9:31am
Source: AAP, SBS


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