The pre-trial detention of Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was arrested in Russia, has been extended
A court in Kazan, Russia, on Friday again extended the pre-trial detention of Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was arrested in Russia on October 18, by two months.
Her detention now runs until February 5, 2024, said the American media Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), for which Alsu Kurmasheva works. The journalist is accused of violations related to her entry in the register of “foreign agents,” while she was involved in the “deliberate collection of information about military activities” that could harm “the security of the Federation of Russia,” reported to the Russian justice system. She faces up to five years in prison.
Alsou Kurmasheva, who joined RFE/RL in 1998, works for her service in the Tatar and Bashkir languages, covering these ethnic minorities in Russia, particularly living in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, the Volga and Ural regions.
The journalist, who lives in Prague with her husband and children, traveled to Russia on May 20 for a “family emergency” but was unable to leave because her American and Russian passports were confiscated.
According to the website Tatar Inform, she was fined on October 11 for failing to disclose her American citizenship to Russian authorities. According to this media, which cites anonymous police sources, she worked in particular on the mobilization of teachers by the Russian army for the offensive in Ukraine.
Alsou Kurmasheva is the second American journalist to be imprisoned in Russia, following still-jailed journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on espionage charges by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 29 while reporting in Yekaterinburg.
Alsou Kurmasheva, with a lawyer, at the court in Kazan, Russia, December 1, 2023. ALEXEY NASYROV / Portal