Alsu Kurmasheva, the US-Russian journalist detained for failing to register as a “foreign agent,” will remain in pre-trial detention until February 5, following a decision by a Russian court on Friday, confirmed by her employer.
While employed with the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Alsu Kurmasheva, holding both Russian and American citizenship, was detained by law enforcement officers in the city of Kazan in October.
‘A court in Kazan extended the detention of Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until February 5, 2024,’ RFE/RL reported on Friday.
Alsu Kurmasheva is the second American journalist to be arrested in Russia this year, reflecting Moscow’s increased hostilities against the West during the Ukraine conflict.
This week, a Moscow court prolonged the pre-trial detention of Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, who is detained on espionage charges.
Kurmasheva, who lives in Prague with her husband and two children, was charged with failing to register as a “foreign agent.”
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Both her and Gershkovich deny the charges against them.
Kurmasheva faces up to five years in prison if found guilty, and her lawyers and employer have called for her immediate release.
Russia has used controversial “foreign agents” legislation as part of a sweeping crackdown on independent media operating inside the country.
The laws stipulate that organizations and individuals labeled as “foreign agents,” a term with historical Soviet-era espionage connotations, must mark all their publications and furnish activity reports to Russian authorities.
Furthermore, the legislation necessitates self-registration for Russian citizens involved in activities deemed a threat to Russia’s ‘national security.’
In June, during her visit to Russia for a family emergency, Kurmasheva had her passports confiscated, leading to her subsequent arrest in October.
On Wednesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists called for the US State Department to designate Kurmasheva as ‘wrongfully detained,’ triggering heightened diplomatic efforts in Washington for her release.
Russia is under scrutiny as critics accuse the country of arresting US passport holders indiscriminately, suggesting that these detentions are part of a broader effort to exchange them for Russians in US prisons.