Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for alleged espionage.
According to a report from Fox News, Gershkovich was found guilty of “gathering secret information” while reporting on a trip to Yekaterinburg, Russia.
Prosecutors claimed the journalist was gathering information for the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a plant that repairs military equipment.
Gershkovich, the U.S. government, and the Wall Street Journal have denied the accusations.
The Wall Street Journal released a statement on the matter, saying that the journalist’s “wrongful detention has been an outrage since his unjust arrest 477 days ago, and it must end now.”
“Even as Russia orchestrates its shameful sham trial, we continue to do everything we can to push for Evan’s immediate release and to state unequivocally: Evan was doing his job as a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. Bring him home now.”
Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Tucker Carlson that Gershkovich could possibly be released through an exchange deal.
When asked if he would be willing to release the journalist, Putin said, “We are willing to solve it but there are certain terms being discussed via special services channels. I believe an agreement can be reached.”
Putin expressed his belief that Gershkovich was a spy, later asserting, “He’s a journalist who is secretly getting confidential information.”
“We want the U.S. Special Services to think about how they can contribute to achieving the goals our special services are pursuing,” he added. “We are ready to talk. Moreover, the talks are underway and there have been many successful examples of these talks crowned with success. Probably this is going to be crowned with success as well. But we have to come to an agreement.”
