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A court in the Russian city of Kazan has extended by two months the detention of Alsu Kurmasheva, a veteran journalist from RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir Service who has been in Russian custody since October 18, until February 5.
Kurmasheva, a Prague-based journalist with RFE/RL who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, traveled to Russia for a family emergency in May.
She was temporarily detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2 at the airport in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, where both of her passports were confiscated. She was not able to leave Russia as she awaited the return of her travel documents.
Authorities on October 11 fined Kurmasheva 10,000 rubles ($103) for failing to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities, according to local media reports based on court documents they’ve seen.
Kurmasheva was detained again on October 18 and this time charged with failing to register as a “foreign agent,” which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The Investigative Committee said Kurmasheva was being charged under a section of the Criminal Code that refers to the registration of “foreign agents” who carry out “purposeful collection of information in the field of military, military-technical activities of Russia,” which, if received by foreign sources, “can be used against the security of the country.”
It gave no further details.
“Alsu has spent 45 days behind bars in Russia and, today, her unjust, politically motivated detention has been extended,” said RFE/RL acting President Jeffrey Gedmin. “We call on Russian authorities to immediately grant Alsu consular access, which is her right as a U.S. citizen. Alsu must be released and reunited with her family.”
The Investigative Committee said its investigation found that while the Russian Justice Ministry did not add her to the list of “foreign agents,” she failed to provide documents to be included on the registry.
Kurmasheva and RFE/RL have both rejected the charge.
Russia’s detention of Kurmasheva, the second U.S. media member to be held by Moscow this year, triggered a wave of criticism from rights groups and politicians who said the move signals a new level of wartime censorship.
The court decision to extend Kurmasheva’s detention comes a day after leading Russian human rights group Memorial recognized Kurmasheva as a political prisoner.
Moscow has been accused of detaining Americans to use as bargaining chips to exchange for Russians jailed in the United States. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested for allegedly spying — a charge he and the newspaper vehemently deny — in March.
Kurmasheva is one of four RFE/RL journalists — Andrey Kuznechyk, Ihar Losik, and Vladyslav Yesypenko are the other three — currently imprisoned on charges related to their work. Rights groups and RFE/RL have called repeatedly for the release of all four, saying they have been wrongly detained.
Losik is a blogger and contributor for RFE/RL’s Belarus Service who was convicted in December 2021 on several charges including the “organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order” and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Kuznechyk, a web editor for RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, was sentenced in June 2022 to six years in prison following a trial that lasted no more than a few hours. He was convicted of “creating or participating in an extremist organization.”
Yesypenko, a dual Ukrainian-Russian citizen who contributed to Crimea.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, was sentenced in February 2022 to six years in prison by a Russian judge in occupied Crimea after a closed-door trial. He was convicted of “possession and transport of explosives,” a charge he steadfastly denies.
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