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Russian prosecutors have requested an 18-year sentence in a high-security penal colony for Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who is on trial for espionage, state news wire RIA Novosti reported.
A sentence is expected later on Friday, bringing an abrupt end to an unusually rapid trial for Gershkovich, the first US reporter arrested for spying in Russia since the cold war.
His almost inevitable conviction could be the prelude to a prisoner exchange involving Russians held in the US and other western countries.
Gershkovich, 32, denied the accusations during two days of closed-door hearings in Ekaterinburg, the city in the Ural Mountains where he was arrested last year, the wire said.
Prosecutors have said Gershkovich was on an assignment from the CIA to obtain “secret information” about tank production and repair at a major factory in the region.
Russia claims to have caught Gershkovich “red-handed” when he was arrested in a Ekaterinburg café and says it has “incontrovertible proof” of his guilt, but has not provided any evidence in public.
The US and the WSJ have said the charges are baseless.
“Evan is being arbitrarily detained and should be released immediately,” Almar Latour, the WSJ’s publisher, said this month after a UN working group found Russia detained Gershkovich arbitrarily.
“Russia is violating international law by imprisoning Evan for his journalism, silencing critical reporting, and depriving him of due process and other rights. We continue to call on the US government and all world leaders to do everything they can to bring Evan home now.”
US officials are trying to secure a release for Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a US Marine veteran currently serving a 16-year sentence for espionage.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to an exchange and hinted the Kremlin wants Vadim Krasikov, a hitman sentenced to life in prison in Germany in 2021, in return.
Moscow has previously swapped other prominent US citizens after they have been convicted and sentenced, including Brittney Griner, the basketball star it swapped for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout in 2022.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said during a visit to the UN in New York this week that discussions over a possible exchange were ongoing.
“This subject doesn’t like fuss, the Americans periodically put it out in public, which isn’t helpful, of course. But we are in touch on this,” Lavrov said.