Kremlin justice merciless
16 years in prison for US journalist Gershkovich
US reporter Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia. The correspondent for the "Wall Street Journal" is accused of espionage. According to the indictment, the 32-year-old is alleged to have collected information about a Russian arms factory for the US secret service CIA.
Both the journalist and the US government have always rejected the allegations as unfounded (see video above). The White House is also calling for Gershkovich's release. The 32-year-old was arrested in March 2023 on charges of espionage, with the accusations coming from the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB. Like many Western journalists, Gershkovich had been working and researching in Russia with accreditation from the Moscow Foreign Ministry.
Warning to reporters
Since the war in Ukraine, however, the situation in the country has been particularly tense. Representatives of Western media who come from so-called "unfriendly states" quickly run the risk of being denounced as spies. There have already been official warnings against traveling to Yekaterinburg, which is known for its arms industry - and thus to the very place where Gershkovich had conducted his research.
His sentence was announced on Friday - 16 years in prison. The public prosecutor's office had previously requested 18 years in prison.
Secret negotiations?
According to official Russian sources, negotiations on an exchange of the journalist with the USA are taking place in secret. According to Russian practice, a verdict is required for such an exchange to take place. In this way, the power apparatus repeatedly presses imprisoned Russians free.
It is known that the Kremlin currently wants to free a national who was convicted after a murder in Berlin's Tiergarten park in 2021. He was convicted of acting out of revenge on behalf of Moscow because the Georgian is said to have killed a Russian soldier during the Chechen war.
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