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Alsu Kurmasheva, the editor for US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague, was reportedly arrested in Russia, on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent over her coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Per multiple reports, Kurmasheva, a dual US-Russian citizen who lived in Prague with her husband and children, traveled to Russia in May for a family emergency and was prevented from leaving the country in early June.
On Wednesday, October 18, Russian authorities who had confiscated Kurmasheva’s passport in June arrested the Journalist, accusing her of violating its foreign agents law, which carries a prison term of up to five years.
What we know about Alsu Kurmasheva's arrest in Russia
According to the state news agency Tatar-Inform, Russian authorities accuse Kurmasheva of collating information regarding the country’s military mobilization for its invasion of Ukraine through the Internet and disseminating the information to foreign sources in September 2022.
Furthermore, she was accused of using information about Tatarstan University teachers, who were recruited by the Russian army to prepare “alternative analytical materials, ” to create campaigns discrediting Russia.
Tatarstan is an autonomous, ethnic minority in the Russian Federation, which declared its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1990 to cultivate a strong national identity and culture. Kurmasheva's past work focused on issues facing ethnic minorities in central Russia, including Tatarstan.
RFE-RL’s acting president said that Alsu Kurmasheva is an accomplished journalist who had covered civilian efforts to preserve the local Tatar language and culture in Tatarstan after Russian authorities began exerting "increased pressure on Tatars in recent years.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists criticized Russia for arresting an independent journalist over spurious charges before demanding the release of Alsu Kurmasheva. Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, said:
“CPJ is deeply concerned by the detention of US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva on spurious criminal charges and calls on Russian authorities to release her immediately and drop all charges against her. Journalism is not a crime and Kurmasheva’s detention is yet more proof that Russia is determined to stifle independent reporting.”
Alsu Kurmasheva is the second American Journalist arrested in Russia this year
RFE-RL suspended its operations in Russia after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Hundreds of Russian journalists have also gone into exile as state censors began levelling criminal cases against journalists and regional bloggers.
Kurmasheva is reportedly the second US journalist detained in Russia this year. Evan Gershkovich, 31, a correspondent from Wall Street Journal Moscow, was arrested in March and charged with espionage.
Meanwhile, in February, Maria Ponomarenko, a Serbian journalist, was sentenced to six years in prison because of her coverage of the Russian bombing of a drama theater.
