US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva convicted in rapid secret trial

Alsu Kurmasheva (AP)

A Russian court has convicted Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva of spreading false information about the Russian army and sentenced her to six and a half years in prison after a secret trial, court records and officials said.

The conviction in the city of Kazan came on Friday, the same day that a court in the city of Yekaterinburg convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison in a case that the US called politically motivated.