US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage by a Russian court after his employer denounced it as a “hoax”.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter was first arrested by security services last March while conducting an interview in Yekaterinburg, a city about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) east of Moscow.
Prosecutors accuse him of working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), an allegation that Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal and the United States vehemently deny.
This is the first case in more than 30 years since the end of the Cold War that an American journalist has been convicted of espionage in Russia.
The trial began last month, with the final two days of proceedings scheduled for August.
But in a surprise move, the hearing was moved to Thursday, and court officials announced a verdict would be handed down on Friday.
In an indictment, prosecutors accused the 32-year-old Gershkovic of collecting “secret information” about a factory in the Sverdlovsk region that produced tanks “on instructions from the CIA.”
The journalist has always denied the accusations, and the Wall Street Journal called the trial a “shameful sham” and his detention an “outrage” in a statement on Thursday.
Washington accuses Russia of using him as a bargaining chip in prisoner swaps with Russian citizens in foreign prisons.
But Moscow knows the United States is prepared to make a swap to free its citizens, and the two countries have been known to discuss such a swap.
Russia observers said a quick conviction could mean a swap is imminent. According to Russian judicial practice, exchange generally requires that the judgment has already taken effect.