Gershkovich was convicted and sentenced on espionage charges during a closed-door trial this week in Yekaterinburg. The journalist had pleaded not guilty before the conviction and sentencing came down.
Russian prosecutors had initially requested 18 years in prison for Gershkovich, who Moscow has insisted is a U.S. spy.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier this week that Gershkovich committed a crime and “it has nothing to do with attacks on journalism.”
President Biden said Gershkovich was “targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American.”
“There is no question that Russia is wrongfully detaining Evan. Journalism is not a crime,” Biden said in a statement. “We are pushing hard for Evan’s release and will continue to do so.”
Wall Street Journal ublisher Almar Latour and the newspaper’s editor-in-chief Emma Tucker, who have closely tracked the case against Gershkovich since his arrest, slammed the sentencing as a “disgraceful, sham conviction.”
“We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family,” they said in a joint statement.
It’s not clear how the sentencing will impact ongoing negotiations between Moscow and Washington for a potential prisoner swap that would free Gershkovich, who was detained while tensions between the U.S. and Russia have soared over the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed a willingness to swap Gershkovich, potentially for a prisoner held in Germany, Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence for the 2019 killing of a Georgian citizen who fought against Russia in Chechnya.
Russia also holds three other high-profile American detainees, former Marine Paul Whelan, who has been detained since 2018, Radio Free Europe reporter and Russian-American Alsu Kurmasheva, and American schoolteacher Marc Fogel since 2021.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the sentencing on Friday was a sign of how far Russia has “fallen into lawlessness.”
“The sham trial and 16-year sentence are stark reminders of the lengths to which tyrants like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will go to leverage innocent people as bargaining chips, stifle free speech, and suppress the truth,” he said.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
