Chair Cardin Statement on Sentencing of Evan Gershkovich by Russian Court on Baseless Charges

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a Russian high-security penal colony on false charges of espionage.

"Today's conviction of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in a Russian court on baseless charges shows just how far Vladimir Putin's Russia has fallen into lawlessness. The sham trial and 16-year sentence are stark reminders of the lengths to which tyrants like Putin will go to leverage innocent people as bargaining chips, stifle free speech, and suppress the truth.

"We see again the cruelty of a regime that is simultaneously continuing its barbarous and unprovoked assault in neighboring Ukraine, where millions of people have been displaced, tens of thousands have been killed, and previously unimaginable destruction has taken place in pursuit of lies about Ukraine, NATO and the United States. I call on the international community to join the United States in condemning this travesty, and in calling for Evan's release, as well as the release of Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Marc Fogel, and all American citizens and residents wrongly imprisoned by the Putin regime."

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