Russia prosecutor seeks 18-year sentence for US journalist Evan Gershkovich
Al Jazeera
Court expected to issue verdict in espionage trial of The Wall Street Journal reporter on Friday.
A Russian prosecutor is seeking an 18-year sentence for American journalist Evan Gershkovich who has been charged with espionage.
The court said a verdict is expected to be issued on Friday at 12:00 GMT.
The 32-year-old correspondent for The Wall Street Journal newspaper is the first Western journalist in Russia to be arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia.
Gershkovich is accused by prosecutors of gathering secret information about Uralvagonzavod, a plant manufacturing tanks for Russia’s war in Ukraine, on the orders of the CIA.
The reporter, his employer and the United States government deny the allegations, saying he was just doing his job, with accreditation from Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
