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evidence, procedural norms, or the rule of law. It is about the Kremlin using American citizens to achieve its political objectives,” the statement said.
Following the judgement, the Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich’s employer, reiterated their position that he was completely innocent and had been wrongfully convicted.
“This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” Almar Latour, the chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker said in a statement. “Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now.” A day before the sentence was announced, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists in New York that Moscow has “irrefutable” proof that the journalist was guilty of espionage.
In Russia, trials for espionage can often last for months. Unusually, Gershkovich’s trial lasted just three days, and was moved forward a month from the planned start date of August 13.
This haste has fuelled speculation about an imminent prisoner swap. Russian authorities, including President Vladimir Putin and his spokesman Dmitry Peskov, have suggested that negotiations for an exchange are underway, potentially involving Vadim Krasikov, who is currently imprisoned in Germany for the assassination of a Chechen exile.
Under the unspoken rules of prisoner swaps, the victim usually has to be convicted of the crimes of which they are accused before they can be swapped.
In the other celebrity case of the arrest of US fund manager Michael Calvey on embezzlement charges in 2019, that was the result of a commercial dispute with a Russian co-investor, Calvey was eventually released after spending over two years in a Russian jail – but only after he was convicted of the alleged crime. In that case, which Clavey was careful not to make political, the court issued a 5.5 year suspended sentence and he was allowed to leave Russia. Notably the US authorities did not get involved in the case; indeed, they were specifically ask not to comment on the case.
Gershkovich has been much unluckier as his case became political from day one and his arrest immediately provoked a bitter complaint from the White House. While Calvey was able to eventually talk and lobby his way out of jail, Gershkovich’s only hope of an early release is a political swap deal.
The former US Marine Paul Whelan remains in a Russian jail, imprisoned on espionage charges in 2018. The Kremlin said that Whelan was an agent and so required an exchange of comparable value such as assassin Krasikov.
12 RUSSIA Country Report August 2024 www.intellinews.com