FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The Russian court has sentenced "Wall Street Journal" journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison, for espionage charges that his employer and the US dismissed as fraud.
His conviction came after a closed-door trial and a swift verdict. This week, the courtroom was not accessible and the reporter was not seen at all.
Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be arrested on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, at the height of the Cold War. The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested on March 29 last year while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. Authorities claimed, without providing any evidence, that he was collecting classified information for the US.
His arrest shocked foreign journalists in Russia, even as the country has passed increasingly repressive free speech laws since sending troops to Ukraine. “Evan's wrongful arrest has been an outrage since his wrongful arrest 477 days ago and it must end now. Even as Russia orchestrates its shameful sham trial, we continue to do everything we can to urge Evan's immediate release and state unequivocally: Evan was doing his job as a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. Bring it home now,” declared the WSJ.
Lini një Përgjigje