Yekaterinburg, Russia — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted Friday of espionage and sentenced to 16 years on charges that his employer and the U.S. have rejected as fabricated. When the judge in the Sverdlovsk Regional Court asked Gershkovich if he understood the verdict, he said yes. He was the first U.S. journalist taken into custody on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, at the height of the Cold War. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, on trial on spying charges, is seen inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia on June 26, 2024. Earlier this month, U.N. human rights experts said Russia violated international law by jailing Gershkovich and should release him "immediately."

Source: Wall Street Journal July 20, 2024 18:39 UTC