Here are key developments in Russia’s case against Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was convicted on Friday of espionage charges in an unusually rapid trial in the country’s highly politicized legal system. He was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison.
Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government have vehemently denied the charges. U.S. officials and The Wall Street Journal have denounced the trial as a sham.
March 29, 2023 – Gershkovich, 31 at the time and on a reporting trip, is arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, about 1,670 kilometers (1,035 miles) east of Moscow.
March 30, 2023 – Russia’s Federal Security Service, a domestic security agency known by the acronym the FSB, issues a statement accusing Gershkovich of acting on U.S. orders to collect state secrets. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claims that the journalist was “caught red-handed.” Officials don’t provide any evidence and don’t disclose any further details. The case is classified as secret, as is customary for espionage and treason cases in Russia. The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government deny the charges. Gershkovich appears in a Moscow court and is ordered into pretrial detention in the notorious Lefortovo Prison.
April 7, 2023 – Russian news agencies report, citing law enforcement officials, that Gershkovich has been formally charged with espionage. The reports say that he categorically denied the charges and said that he was merely working as a journalist.
April 10, 2023 – The U.S. State Department officially designates Gershkovich as wrongfully detained. The designation is applied to only a small subset of Americans jailed by foreign countries who meet a certain criteria, and such cases go to a special State Department envoy, who tries to negotiate their release.
April 13, 2023 – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov tells state news agency Tass that talks about a possible exchange could take place through a dedicated channel that Russian and U.S. security agencies established for such purposes. He emphasizes that “the issue of exchanging anyone can only be considered after a court delivers its verdict.”
April 17, 2023 – U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visits Gershkovich in the Lefortovo Prison for the first time. Tracy says that “he is in good health and remains strong.”
October 26, 2023 – Gershkovich turns 32 behind bars.
June 13, 2024 – Russia’s Prosecutor General’s office says an indictment of Gershkovich has been finalized and his case was filed to the Sverdlovsk Regional Court in Yekaterinburg. The statement for the first time details accusations against Gershkovich, claiming without evidence that the reporter is accused of “gathering secret information” about a facility in the Sverdlovsk region that produced and repaired military equipment. The Wall Street Journal and its publisher Dow Jones reject the allegations as “false and baseless” and condemn “Russia’s latest move toward a sham trial.”
June 17, 2024 – The Sverdlovsk Regional Court sets the trial date for June 26.
June 26, 2024 – Gershkovich appears in court for the first hearing in the trial. Proceedings take place behind closed doors, but journalists are allowed in for several minutes before the hearing starts. The reporter is wearing a black-and-blue plaid shirt, and his head is shaved. No explanation is offered as to why. Some inmates in Russia have their heads shaved or their hair cut short for sanitary reasons. The Wall Street Journal and U.S. officials once again denounce the trial as a sham. The next hearing is scheduled for mid-August.
July 16, 2024 – Court records show that the second hearing in the trial has been unexpectedly moved forward to July 18. Court officials tell Russian media that it has been done at the request of Gershkovich’s lawyers.
July 18, 2024 – The second hearing in the trial takes place behind closed doors, and journalists are not allowed in the courtroom. After the hearing, court officials announce that closing arguments will take place the next day.
July 19, 2024 – The unusually swift trial wraps up after three hearings. Closing arguments are held behind closed doors, with the media once again barred from the courtroom. The verdict is delivered just several hours after the closing arguments. Gershkovich is convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison.