Prosecutors have requested an 18-year prison sentence for Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich. The American journalist is being tried for espionage in Russia.
Gershkovich was the first US journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. He was detained in March 2023 while researching a story on the Wagner mercenary group in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
He has since spent nearly 16 months in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison.
Trial and Charges
Russian state-affiliated news agency Interfax reported that prosecutors requested the 18-year sentence. Gershkovich's trial, which included three hearings held behind closed doors, concluded on Friday, July 19th. The first hearing in his case was held on June 26, followed by two more on Thursday and Friday.
During the first hearing, no witnesses were questioned.
Only one witness, Vyacheslav Vegner, a lawmaker from the Sverdlovsk region who was interviewed by Gershkovich, was seen leaving the courtroom on Thursday, Mediazona reported.
The court’s verdict is expected to be announced at 5 PM local time (UTC+5), according to independent news outlet Mediazona.
During his career as a journalist, Gershkovich has worked for The New York Times, AFP, and the independent Russian newspaper The Moscow Times. He has lived and worked in the Russian capital since 2017 and was accredited as a journalist by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Potential Prisoner Swap
Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested in February that he was open to a prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, potentially exchanging him for Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence in Germany for a politically motivated killing in Berlin in 2019.
Associates of the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny mentioned that the Kremlin had been in talks to exchange Navalny and "two unnamed US citizens" for Krasikov in February, but negotiations were suspended after Navalny's death in prison.
Russian officials continue to discuss the possibility of a swap, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying on Wednesday that Russian and US security services were in contact "to see who can be exchanged for whom."
