{"id":2301952,"date":"2024-07-20T05:20:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T09:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wsj-reporter-sentenced-to-16-years-in-prison-employer-calls-it-a-disgraceful-sham-conviction\/"},"modified":"2024-07-20T05:22:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T09:22:12","slug":"wsj-reporter-gets-16-year-prison-sentence-employer-denounces-conviction-as-disgraceful-33","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wsj-reporter-gets-16-year-prison-sentence-employer-denounces-conviction-as-disgraceful-33\/","title":{"rendered":"WSJ reporter gets 16-year prison sentence, employer denounces conviction as disgraceful"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwsj-reporter-gets-16-year-prison-sentence-employer-denounces-conviction-as-disgraceful-33%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2301952&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The American reporter \u200dfor the Wall Street\u2063 Journal, Evan Gershkovich, has been sentenced to 16\u2062 years in a Russian prison \u200cfor espionage in a trial that has been criticized by\u2064 the\u200d U.S. \u200cgovernment as a sham. Gershkovich was detained in\u200b 2023\u200d while on assignment in Yekaterinburg and has been wrongfully detained for 478 \u2063days. The\u200c trial was viewed as unfair, and there are suspicions that his imprisonment may be a ploy for a prisoner swap with the \u2062U.S. President \u200bJoe Biden and the State Department have called for Gershkovich&#8217;s release, stating that journalism is not a\u2064 crime. Russian courts have a high \u200dconviction rate in espionage cases,\u200c and the trial process for Gershkovich\u2063 was expedited, raising\u2063 concerns about the fairness \u200dof the proceedings. President Putin has indicated openness to \u200ba \u200bprisoner swap for Gershkovich and others, suggesting the possibility\u200d of a political motive behind \u2064his imprisonment.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section>\n<p>An American reporter for the Wall Street Journal was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison after being convicted of espionage in what his employer called &ldquo;a hurried, secret trial that the U.S. government has condemned as a sham.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/took-lot-guts-putin-grows-agitated-tucker-carlson-repeatedly-presses-jailed-us-journalist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Evan Gershkovich<\/a> was ordered to serve the sentence at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wsj-reporter-gets-16-year-prison-sentence-employer-denounces-conviction-as-disgraceful-2\/\" title=\"WSJ reporter gets 16-year prison sentence, employer denounces conviction as disgraceful\">high-security penal colony<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/russia\/evan-gershkovich-russia-trial-dbabd6e3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Journal<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The court&rsquo;s Friday verdict &mdash; after three days of hearings &mdash; was widely viewed as a foregone conclusion, since acquittals in Russian espionage trials are exceedingly rare,&rdquo; according to the report.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;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,&rdquo; Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March 2023 by Russian authorities while on assignment for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-needs-released-second-american-journalist-arrested-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wall Street Journal<\/a> in Yekaterinburg.<\/p>\n<p>  <script> \t\t\t\tif( ! getCookie( 'ff_subbed' ) ) if( typeof FFADS.replace_ict !='undefined' ) if( FFADS.replace_ict ) eval( FFADS.replace_ict ); \t\t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Russian officials &ldquo;have produced no public evidence to support their allegations,&rdquo; the Journal reported.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the U.S.,&rdquo; the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/evan-gershkovich-russia-espionage-trial-ef2e9fffc44570cf797e97aa6afa50a1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Associated Press<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. State Department said Gershkovich was &ldquo;wrongfully detained&rdquo; and said it is working to secure his release.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden was quoted as saying, &ldquo;We are pushing hard for Evan&rsquo;s release and will continue to do so.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As I have long said and as the U.N. also concluded, there is no question that Russia is wrongfully detaining Evan. Journalism is not a crime.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The AP reported that in Russia, &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/us-chief-petty-officer-charged-espionage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">espionage<\/a> and treason cases are typically shrouded in secrecy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Russian courts convict more than 99 percent of defendants, and prosecutors can appeal sentences that they regard as too lenient.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Unlike the trial&rsquo;s opening June 26 in Yekaterinburg and previous hearings in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/imprisoned-former-marine-russia-urges-biden-admin-take-decisive-action-free\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Moscow<\/a> where reporters could see Gershkovich briefly before proceedings began, there was no access to the courtroom Thursday when the trial resumed,&rdquo; the news agency reported. &ldquo;Media were allowed in Friday for the verdict.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Gershkovich was afforded few of the protections normally accorded to defendants in the U.S. and other Western countries,&rdquo; the Journal reported.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple news outlets speculated that the accusation and imprisonment was orchestrated with an eye toward a prisoner swap. Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have raised the issue with the U.S., according to the Journal.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wsj-reporter-gets-16-year-prison-sentence-employer-denounces-conviction-as-disgraceful-3\/\" title=\"WSJ reporter gets 16-year prison sentence, employer denounces conviction as disgraceful\">appalling 16 year sentence handed<\/a> down to Evan Gershkovich today by the Putin regime is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wsj-reporter-gets-16-year-prison-sentence-employer-denounces-conviction-as-disgraceful\/\" title=\"WSJ reporter gets 16-year prison sentence, employer denounces conviction as disgraceful\">state sponsored hostage taking-plain<\/a> and simple. The only upside is that Russia tends to wait to do prisoner swaps after their hostages are &ldquo;convicted&rdquo; so perhaps a swap is more likely now <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2KYBIvvotl\">pic.twitter.com\/2KYBIvvotl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sir William Browder KCMG (@Billbrowder) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Billbrowder\/status\/1814421556954599903?\">July 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Putin indicated that he would be open to a prisoner swap for Gershkovich and others,&rdquo; according to the report. &ldquo;He made clear reference to Vadim Krasikov, an FSB [Federal Security Service] operative now serving a life sentence in Germany for killing a Chechen &eacute;migr&eacute; in Berlin in 2019.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/19\/world\/europe\/russia-court-evan-gershkovich-verdict.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Times<\/a> report observed that the trial date had suddenly been moved up and that the case moved faster than usual.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The expedited nature of the case suggested that Moscow might be ready to trade Mr. Gershkovich,&rdquo; the Times reported.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The proceedings were recently moved up by more than three weeks, and the court concluded the case, a process that usually takes months, in a matter of weeks, with only three hearings.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\">  <\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> <label>* Name<\/label> <br \/> <input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> <\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> <label>* <\/label> <br \/> <input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> <\/div>\n<p> <label>* Message<\/label> <br \/> <textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> <input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\">  <\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\">  <\/div>\n<style> \t\t\t \t\t\t.insticator-unit.type-commenting{margin: 0 10px 25px 10px}@media screen and (max-width:1060px){#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{margin: 0 auto 25px auto !important;}}#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{height: 280px !important; width: 336px !important} \t\t<\/style>\n<div class=\"insticator-unit type-commenting\">\n<div class=\"insticator-ads\">   <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"insticator-ads additional\">   <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An American journalist working for the Wall Street Journal was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in a trial that the U.S. government criticized as unfair. Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in Russia in 2023, was convicted without any evidence to support the allegations. The U.S. State Department is working to secure his release, and there is speculation that his imprisonment may be part of a potential prisoner swap. President Putin has indicated openness to such a swap. The trial was expedited, leading to suspicions that Moscow may be looking to negotiate Gershkovich&#8217;s release<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2301953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Evan-Gershkovich.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[15927,27582,32433,5046,20677],"class_list":["post-2301952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-conviction","tag-employer","tag-prison-sentence","tag-reporter","tag-wsj"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Evan-Gershkovich.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2301952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2301952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2301952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2301953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2301952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2301952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2301952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}