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Russian American accused of failing to register as a 'foreign agent' and spreading 'false information'
A Russian court has extended the pre-trial detention of journalist Alsou Kurmasheva until June 5, her employer Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) says.
The 47-year-old Prague-based editor was charged last year in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan with failing to register as a “foreign agent” and spreading “false information” under censorship laws imposed after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Was arrested in.
Appearing in court in Kazan on Monday, Kurmasheva smiled and complained about the poor conditions of the cell where she was being held, an Agence France-Presse reporter said.
Kurmasheva, who holds both American and Russian passports, entered Russia in May to deal with a family emergency. He was initially detained at an airport while waiting for his return flight on 2 June and his passports were confiscated.
He was fined 10,000 rubles ($108) in October for failing to register his U.S. passport with Russian authorities, according to court documents.
Her employer, RFE/RL, funded by the United States Congress, has been designated a foreign agent by Russia on charges that it receives foreign funding for activity deemed political.
In 2022, he edited the e-book Saying No to Conflict, a set of interviews and tales of Russians protesting Moscow's marketing campaign in opposition to Ukraine.
In December, a state-affiliated media outlet reported that the e-book led Russian investigators to open a brand new case in opposition to Kurmasheva, accusing her of spreading misinformation concerning the Russian navy.
The cost of failing to register as a international agent carries a jail sentence of as much as 5 years, whereas the cost of spreading false info carries a most sentence of 15 years.
'Baseless' allegations
RFE/RL described his imprisonment as “outrageous” and mentioned he was “detained just because he has a US passport”.
“The allegations in opposition to Alsou are baseless. This isn’t a authorized course of. “This can be a political ploy and Alsou and his household are unfairly paying a horrible value,” RFE/RL chief Stefan Capas mentioned on Monday.
“Russia ought to cease this pretense and instantly launch Alsou with none circumstances,” he mentioned.
Rights teams have accused Russia of utilizing repressive legal guidelines to focus on Kremlin critics and impartial journalists.
Kurmasheva is the second American journalist to be arrested in Russia for the reason that starting of Moscow's battle in Ukraine.
Wall Road Journal reporter Ivan Gershkovich has spent greater than a 12 months in a Moscow jail on espionage expenses, which carry a most sentence of 20 years in jail.
He has denied the allegations.
Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, an American who was convicted of espionage in 2020 and jailed in Russia for 16 years, have been designated as “wrongfully detained” by the US authorities.
The designation means Washington considers the costs in opposition to him to be fraudulent and is dedicated to working for his launch.
The US State Division mentioned final 12 months that Kurmasheva's arrest “seems to be one more case of harassment of Americans by the Russian authorities”, and her supporters in Washington lobbied for “wrongfully detained” standing for her as nicely. are doing.