KAZAN: A Russian court in Kazan announced on Friday that it will decide whether to place Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva in pre-trial detention for allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent.
Kurmasheva, formerly working for the US-funded media outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained by Russian law enforcement officers in Kazan on Wednesday.
The Sovetski court is set to rule on the prosecutors’ request to formally detain her on charges that carry a potential sentence of up to five years in jail.
Kurmasheva, an editor with RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir service, was covering efforts to preserve the Tatar language despite “increased pressure on Tatars in recent years.” She resides in Prague, Czech Republic, but entered Russia on May 20 due to a family emergency. However, her temporary detention at Kazan airport on June 2 resulted in the confiscation of both her US and Russian passports, along with a fine for failing to register her US passport with Russian authorities.
These new charges emerged on Wednesday while she was awaiting the return of her passports, and if found guilty, she could face up to five years in jail. The “foreign agent” label, reminiscent of the Soviet era, has been applied to numerous independent news outlets and mandates that those accused register with the justice ministry.
Jeffrey Gedmin, acting president of RFE/RL, called for Kurmasheva’s immediate release so “she can return to her family.” Concerns have been raised about the timing of her detention, possibly linked to information she received about university teachers being mobilized to fight in Ukraine. The United Nations human rights office expressed its concerns about Kurmasheva’s detention, emphasizing the importance of journalists being able to carry out their work free from pressure, intimidation, and reprisals.
Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was the first US journalist detained by Russia earlier this year on “spying” charges, a charge denied by Gershkovich, his employer, and the White House.
