The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has described the recent detention and conviction of two journalists in Russia as “an outrageous attack on media freedom”.

The organisation has condemned the 19 July sentencing of Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist for the Wall Street Journal, to 16 years in prison on espionage charges by a court in Yekaterinburg.

Gershkovich was first detained in March last year while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg.

IBAHRI co-chair Anne Ramberg said that he had already been in detention at the Lefortovo prison in Moscow for 16 months without evidence of any wrongdoing.

“Now, he has been dealt a tremendously severe sentence of 16 years on seemingly baseless charges, which is to be served in a high-security penal colony,” she added.

‘Convicted in secret’

The institute has also expressed concern about the Russian-American journalist Aslu Kurmasheva , an editor for the Tatar-Bashkir service at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The organisation says that she was convicted in secret in a Russian court in Kazan to six and a half years’ imprisonment, on charges of spreading ‘fake’ news about the Russian army.

IBAHRI co-chair Mark Stephens said that the “arbitrary” detention and conviction of the two journalists sent “a chilling message” to journalists worldwide.

“It is symbolic of the Kremlin’s brutal crackdown on truth and dissent, especially those opposing the war against Ukraine,” he added, calling on the international community to speak out against Russia’s actions.