WASHINGTON — US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been found guilty of espionage by a Russian court and sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony, after a secretive trial decried as a "sham" by his employer, his family and the White House.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter was first arrested last March while on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,600km (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, by security services.

Prosecutors accused him of working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), accusations that Gershkovich, the WSJ and the US vociferously deny.

It marks the first conviction of a US journalist for espionage in Russia since the Cold War ended more than 30 years ago.

Both sides in the trial have 15 days to appeal against the verdict, the judge said.

“This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and Editor in Chief Emma Tucker said in a statement.

“We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family.

“Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now.”

Western politicians have roundly condemned the verdict. US President Joe Biden said Gershkovich had "committed no crime" and was "targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American".

"Evan has endured his ordeal with remarkable strength," Biden added. "Journalism is not a crime. We will continue to stand strong for press freedom in Russia and worldwide, and stand against all those who seek to attack the press or target journalists."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Russia was punishing journalism with its "politicized legal system", and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the sentence as "despicable".

Washington accuses Russia of holding Gershkovich as a bargaining chip, to be used for a possible prisoner swap with Russian citizens in foreign jails.

But Moscow knows that the US is prepared to make swaps in order to release its own citizens, and the two countries are known to have been discussing such a swap.

Russian observers say a quick conviction could mean that an exchange is imminent. According to Russian judicial practice, an exchange generally requires a verdict to be in place already.

In February Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at a possible exchange in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson.

It is thought he was referring to Vadim Krasikov, a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) hitman serving a life sentence in Germany for shooting dead a former Chechen rebel commander in Berlin.

Evan Gershkovich's trial began last month, and the last two days' proceedings had originally been scheduled for August. Prosecutors had asked for an 18-year prison sentence.

But in an unexpected move, the hearing was brought forward to Thursday, and the judge gave the verdict late on Friday afternoon.

In a charging indictment, prosecutors accused Gershkovich, 32, of acting “under instructions from the CIA" to collect "secret information" about a factory that produces tanks in the Sverdlovsk region.

The reporter has consistently denied the accusations, and in a statement on Thursday the WSJ called the trial a "shameful sham" and his detention an "outrage".

A number of other high-profile US citizens -- including Paul Whelan -- remain detained in Russian prisons. Whelan was detained in 2018 and accused of espionage.

In his statement on Thursday Biden said he had "no higher priority than seeking the release and safe return of Evan, Paul Whelan and all Americans wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad". — BBC