Russian prosecutors initially sought a very significant 18-year prison sentence in the espionage case of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. A verdict has been handed down by a court in Yekaterinburg on Friday in the late afternoon (local time), after the regional court’s press service said that proceedings reached the final stage for the American journalist who has been behind bars since is March 2023 arrest.

Russian authorities claim he was spying for the CIA while investigating a major Russian defense company in Yekaterinburg, a city which lies east of the Ural Mountains. The court has convicted him, with a judge delivering a steep 16-year sentence.

Via Reuters

A prior Russian state media statement asserted he was “attempting to obtain military secrets for the CIA”. It described: “Investigators claimed in a statement that they have evidence proving the US citizen was acting on behalf of the foreign intelligence agency when he tried to collect classified information about Uralvagonzavod, a major Russian producer of tanks and armored vehicles, in Ekaterinburg in March 2023.”

This has made him the first American journalist to be imprisoned and convicted in Russia on such an allegation since the Cold War.

Friday witnessed closing arguments in the court, which allowed Gershkovich the opportunity to deliver close remarks, but it was done behind closed doors.

He along with the WSJ and the US government have decried the charges against him as a ‘sham’ and as trumped-up and politically motivated. Washington very quickly declared Gershkovich “wrongfully detained” which allows for the Biden administration to pursue hostage negotiations to gain his release.

The WSJ previously reported in a Friday update:

The Yekaterinburg court is widely expected to convict Gershkovich, as acquittals in Russian espionage cases are exceedingly rare. Gershkovich was tried in a secret proceeding over three days in which he received few of the protections accorded to defendants in the U.S. and other Western countries.

Russian authorities have produced no public evidence to support their allegations. Gershkovich is expected to be sentenced soon.

A court in Yekaterinburg has convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a high security penal colony. The trial has been dismissed as a ‘sham’ by US officials & the WSJ. pic.twitter.com/1tSodId4pR

— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) July 19, 2024

It is widely believed that Russia is using the case as a bargaining chip, in order to free high level Russian detainees in the West, just like the prisoner swap involving Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout played out. Likely this process will only intensify now that he has been sentenced.