Jonathan Nwokpor
President of the United States Joe Biden has charged that American journalist Evan Gershkovich is being targeted by the Russian government.
According to Biden, Gershkovich was the target of the Russian government because he is an American.
He was responding to the 16-year prison sentence that a Russian court had given to Gershkovich.
Gershkovich was convicted guilty of spying by a Russian court and given a 16-year sentence to serve in a maximum-security prison colony.
This came after a covert trial that the White House, his family, and his company denounced as a “sham.”
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) correspondent was first detained by security forces in the city of Yekaterinburg, which is located roughly 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, in March of last year while on a reporting assignment.
Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal, and the United States vigorously refute the charges made by the prosecutors that he is employed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Since the end of the Cold War more than 30 years ago, this is the first time a US journalist has been found guilty of espionage in Russia.
Reacting, Biden posted on X: “Today, Evan Gershkovich received a sentence of 16 years in a Russian prison, despite having committed no crime.
“I will not mince words: he was targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American.”
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