Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Tatar-Bashkir service, was detained in Russia in October. She was initially charged with failing to register as a foreign agent and later with spreading “false information” about the Russian military. A court in Tatarstan has extended her detention until at least Aug. 5, 2024. Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen living in Prague with her family, could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Russian authorities have intensified their crackdown on Kremlin critics and independent journalists since Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, effectively criminalizing any public expression deviating from the Kremlin line. This crackdown has resulted in the detention of multiple journalists and critics.
The court in Russia ordered Kurmasheva to be held until at least Aug. 5, pending further investigation and trial, as part of the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent and free speech. She was taken into custody on Oct. 18 on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent and later spreading “false information” about the Russian military. According to OVD-Info, a Russian rights group, the court in Tatarstan extended her detention on Friday. This move is part of a broader pattern of Russian authorities using legislation to target critics and suppress dissent following Putin’s decision to send troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
Kurmasheva is not the only U.S. journalist to have faced legal trouble in Russia in recent months. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges in March, and his employer and U.S. authorities have rejected the charges, designating him wrongfully detained. Gershkovich has spent a year in custody. Kurmasheva, who was stopped in June on her way out of Kazan International Airport after a trip to visit her ailing mother, had her passports confiscated and was fined for failing to register her U.S. passport. She was subsequently arrested in October on other charges. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has called for her release and challenged Moscow’s use of foreign agent laws in the European Court of Human Rights.
Russian authorities issued a warning to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2017 to register as a foreign agent, resulting in the organization being fined millions of dollars by Russia. However, RFE/RL has contested the legality of the foreign agent laws in the European Court of Human Rights. The ongoing crackdown on independent journalists and critics in Russia underscores the challenges faced by those who speak out against the Kremlin. The detention of journalists like Kurmasheva and Gershkovich is part of a broader trend towards silencing dissent and restricting freedom of speech in Russia. Despite international condemnation and calls for their release, these journalists remain detained as the Kremlin continues its crackdown on critics and dissenting voices.
