A court in Russia has sentenced US journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a high-security penal colony after a lengthy trial that many have called a sham.

Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was found guilty of espionage on Friday after being held in pre-trial detention since March 2023, when he was detained on suspicion of spying during a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,600km east of Moscow.

The Wall Street Journal and the US government have repeatedly denied the charges of espionage put against Gershkovich, 32, for which he pled not guilty.

“Russian authorities have failed to provide any evidence supporting the charges against him, failed to justify his continued detention, and failed to explain why Evan’s work as a journalist constitutes a crime,” the US embassy in Moscow said.

US journalist Evan Gershkovich looks out from inside a glass defendants' cage prior to a hearing in Yekaterinburg's Sverdlovsk Regional Court on 26 June, 2024. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP) (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)

“We have been clear from the start that Evan has done nothing wrong and never should have been arrested in the first place. His case is not about evidence, procedural norms, or the rule of law. It is about the Kremlin using American citizens to achieve its political objectives.”

US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy previously said she believes Gershkovich is being used as a “pawn” by the Kremlin, a sentiment which has been repeated by the White House.

Officials have claimed that Gershkovich’s detainment has been part of the Kremlin’s strategy to collect arrested American citizens to later exchange for Russian prisoners held in the US.

The Independent Association of Publishers' Employees and Wall Street Journal journalists rally in Washington, DC, on 12 April, 2023, calling for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

A few weeks ago, investigators released more information about the charge, with prosecutors claiming Gershkovich had been collecting classified information about a Russian tank manufacturer on behalf of the CIA.

The claim has been denied by Gershkovich and the US government.

Putin has insinuated that a prisoner swap could shorten Gershkovich’s sentence and mentioned Vadim Krasikov, a high-ranking FSB colonel serving life in Germany for the murder of a Chechen dissident in Berlin in 2019, as the prospect.

Gershkovich, born in New York to Russian-Jewish parents, is the first American journalist to be charged with espionage in Russia since the Cold War.

His case does, however, bear similarities to that of ex-marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested by the FSB during a visit to Moscow in 2018 and charged with espionage in 2020. He is currently carrying out a 16-year prison sentence. The White House has dubbed both Gershkovich and Whelan “wrongfully detained.”

A court bailiff blocks a hallway of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court during a hearing in the trial of US journalist Evan Gershkovich, accused of espionage, in Yekaterinburg on 18 July, 2024. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)

The proceedings on Friday were held behind closed doors and journalists who came to the court building in Yekaterinburg were not allowed to see Gershkovich in the courtroom even before the hearing started.

Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and Wall Street Journal Editor Emma Tucker released the following statement on Gershkovich’s sentence Friday:

“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.

We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family. Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he is released.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also denounced the ruling on Friday, writing on X: “The sentencing of WJS reporter Evan Gershkovich is despicable and only serves to underscore Russia’s utter contempt for media freedom.

He added: “Journalism should not be a crime. Gershkovich must be released immediately.”