The American journalist Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia.
"Journalism is not a crime and we will not let this go until he is free", his bosses write in a statement.
When the verdict was announced, Gershkovich did not react and looked calm. When the judge asked him if he understood the implications of the verdict, the journalist replied yes and waved to his journalist colleagues as he was led away.
Reporters Without Borders call the verdict "outrageous" and say that Gershkovich should be released immediately.
According to court officials, the prosecutors demanded an 18-year sentence in a high-security prison during the final plea on Friday.
The trial has been held behind closed doors.
No Evidence
Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich has been charged with espionage on unclear grounds and risked up to 20 years in prison.
The 32-year-old journalist was arrested during a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains in March 2023 and has spent almost 16 months in detention. The Russian authorities claimed without evidence that Gershkovich gathered secret information on behalf of the USA.
Both Gershkovich and his employer, as well as the US government, deny the allegations against him.
His bosses write in a statement that "we will continue to do everything we can to pressure for Evan's release and to support his family", and have called the verdict false and shameful.
Swift Trial
Gershkovich is the first American journalist since the Cold War to be arrested and charged with espionage in Russia.
The trial has moved quickly since the first hearing at the end of June. Other similar cases in Russia have taken significantly longer, with several weeks or sometimes months between trial days.
In Washington, it is believed that he is being held as a bargaining chip to secure the release of Russians convicted abroad. Russia has signaled that a prisoner exchange is possible, but it may take months or years before such an exchange becomes a reality.
Evan Gershkovich, born in 1991, is an American journalist who has reported from and about Russia since 2017.
His parents fled separately to the USA from the Soviet Union in the late 1970s. They met in Detroit, Michigan, and later moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where the couple's two children grew up.
When Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg on March 29, 2023, he was working for the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal. He has previously worked for The New York Times, The Moscow Times, and the news agency AFP.
He has been held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison awaiting trial.
Russia's Foreign Ministry claims that he was caught "red-handed" when he tried to obtain classified information about Russian military or military facilities. According to media reports, he was working on an article about the paramilitary Wagner group when he was arrested.
The Wall Street Journal and the White House have rejected the allegations against Gershkovich.
