RADIO FREEDOM EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY VIA AP
In this painting published via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Alsou Kurmasheva, editor-in-chief of Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, poses for a photograph of a painting at the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2013.
A Russian-American journalist applying for a U. S. government-funded media company has been arrested in Russia and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, according to her employer.
Alsou Kurmasheva, editor-in-chief of Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, is the second U. S. journalist arrested in Russia this year. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested on suspicion of espionage in March.
Kurmasheva, editor-in-chief of RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir service, is being held in a detention center, the Committee to Protect Journalists said, citing an official Russian news agency.
The Tatar-Inform news company published a video showing Kurmasheva entering an administrative building accompanied by four men, two of whom were holding her arms and wearing balaclavas.
Tatar-Inform said the government accused Kurmasheva of collecting information on the activities of the Russian military “to pass it on to foreign sources,” suggesting she had won over university professors mobilized in the Russian army.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said it accused her of failing to register as a foreign agent in her capacity as a user who collects data on the activities of the Russian military. It quotes the local government as saying that this data “could be used against the safety of Russian journalists. “Federation. “
If convicted, Kurmasheva could face up to five years in prison, the New York-based press freedom organization said.
“Alsu is a colleague of great repute, a faithful wife and a faithful mother of two children,” said Jeffrey Gedmin, acting president of Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty. “She will have to be released so that she can immediately return to her circle of relatives. “
Kurmasheva, who lives in Prague with her family, was arrested at Kazan International Airport on June 2 after traveling to Russia for a family emergency on May 20, according to RFE/RL.
The airport government confiscated Kurmasheva’s U. S. and Russian passports, and then fined her for failing to sign her U. S. passport with the Russian government. She was expecting her passports back when the new non-registration fee as a foreign agent was announced on Wednesday. RFE/RL reported.
RFE/RL applied through the Russian government to register as a foreign agent in December 2017. The organization filed a complaint against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights in 2021, challenging Russia’s use of foreign agent laws, resulting in a multimillion-dollar fine. -Fine in dollars. Dollars.
Kurmasheva reported on ethnic minority communities in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in Russia, adding projects and maintaining the Tatar language and culture despite “increased pressure” on Tatars through Russian authorities, her employer said.
Analysts have pointed out that Moscow could simply use imprisoned Americans as a bargaining chip after tensions between the United States and Russia escalated when Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At least two U. S. citizens arrested in Russia in recent years, plus WNBA star Brittney Griner, have been swapped for Russians. imprisoned in the United States.
“Journalism is not a crime, and Kurmasheva’s detention is further proof that Russia is determined to suppress independent reporting,” said Gulnoza Said, Europe and Central Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Kurmasheva’s arrest comes seven months after the Wall Street Journal’s Gershkovich was arrested in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow. He has given the impression to the court several times since his arrest and has appealed, unsuccessfully, his continued detention.
Russia’s Federal Security Service claimed that Gershkovich, “acting on orders from the American side, had collected a state secret about the activities of one of the corporations of the Russian military-industrial complex. “
Gershkovich and the Journal deny the allegations, and the U. S. government said he was wrongfully detained. The Russian government has not detailed any evidence of the espionage charges. The legal proceedings against him are closed because prosecutors say the main points of the offender’s case are classified. .
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