Russia has detained Alsu Kurmasheva, a Prague-based editor at US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Kurmasheva, 47, holds both US and Russian passports and works for RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir service. She travelled to Russia on May 20 for a family emergency. She was temporarily detained on June 2 and arrested again on Wednesday, October 18.
She has been charged with not registering as a ‘foreign agent,’ according to RFE/RL. If proven guilty, she could face up to five years in prison.
She is the second western reporter to be jailed on spy charges in Russia in the last seven months. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested for alleged spying in March. Since then, he has appeared in court several times since and unsuccessfully appealed his detention.
“Kurmasheva is an accomplished journalist who has long covered ethnic minority communities in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in the Volga-Ural region of Russia,” RFE/RL said.
“She has reported on initiatives to protect and preserve the Tatar language and culture from Russian authorities, who have exerted increased pressure on Tatars in recent years.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists said: “CPJ is deeply concerned by the detention of U.S-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva on spurious criminal charges and calls on Russian authorities to release her immediately and drop all charges against her,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Journalism is not a crime and Kurmasheva’s detention is yet more proof that Russia is determined to stifle independent reporting.”
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