McCain Institute Deplores Russia’s 16-Year Sentence against Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich

Evan Gershkovich attends his sentencing in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on July 19, 2024.

PHOTO: DMITRI LOVETSKY/AP (From here).

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 19, 2024) - Today, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, held hostage by the Kremlin regime for 478 days on baseless espionage claims, was sentenced to a 16-year prison term. McCain Institute Chief Program Officer Kristen Abrams issued the below statement deploring this sentence and calling for his release:

"The McCain Institute condemns the cruel, arbitrary, and wrongful 16-year sentence against Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen and journalist, for just doing his job. Today, more than ever, we stand with Evan Gershkovich and his family: his mother Ella Milman, his father Mikhail Gershkovich, and his sibling Danielle, and the families of all hostages unjustly held abroad. We denounce the use of hostages as political pawns and call for Evan's immediate and prompt release."

Gershkovich was unjustly detained in March 2023 by the Kremlin's Federal Security Service in Yekaterniburg, Russia, marking the first time a U.S. journalist has been accused of espionage since the U.S.S.R. In June 2024, Russian prosecutors indicted Evan, under the false theory that he was 'gathering information about a Russian defense contractor on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency.' The Kremlin's sham three-day hearing took place behind closed doors, where Gershkovich was not allowed the minimum protections to defend himself.

On Wednesday, July 24, the McCain Institute will co-sponsor the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation's release of its sixth annual edition of "Bringing Americans Home," an independent research report that provides new information about the ongoing crisis of Americans taken hostage abroad by terrorists or wrongfully detained by nation-states.

Learn more about the event and register at bringingamericanshome.org.