>>21246607 (PB)
>>21246601(PB)
be lynching cockroaches next.
WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years for espionage by Russian court in case denounced by US as a sham
Evan Gershkovich, the first American journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War, has been found guilty of spying and sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Russian court, in a case that the US government, his newspaper and supporters have denounced as a sham.
The court in Yekaterinburg announced the guilty verdict and sentencing on Friday shortly after 3 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET).
The court heard closing arguments and 32-year-old Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, delivered his closing remarks behind closed doors on Friday morning.
The case’s rapid conclusion comes just weeks after Gershkovich first appeared in a glass cage with his head recently shaved at the start of his trial on June 26. On that day, Gershkovich stood cross-armed, occasionally smiling and waving to the crowd of reporters.
The speed of the trial has raised questions over whether the Kremlin is intending to use him as part of a prisoner swap deal with the United States, suggestions which spokesman Dmitry Peskov left without comment when asked about them on a Friday conference call ahead of the verdict announcement.
In June, Moscow confirmed again that contacts are ongoing regarding a potential prisoner exchange deal for Gershkovich, but Peskov repeatedly insisted that those conversations were to be carried out in “absolute silence” to prevent complications.
Gershkovich was arrested while reporting for the WSJ, during a trip to Yekaterinburg in March 2023, and later accused of spying for the CIA. Russian authorities have never offered any public evidence to support their claims.
Within two weeks of his arrest in March 2023, the US State Department designated him as wrongfully detained and called for his immediate release.
May the Midnight Special shine a light on the poor clown.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/19/media/evan-gershkovich-espionage-trial-verdict-intl/index.html
real drummer, playing in the pocket like a real drummer should