A Reuters journalist who was in the court, which examined today, Friday (20/10) the request for the pre-trial detention of the Russian-American journalist Also Kurmaseva, said that her detention was extended by 72 hours.
Russian-American Alsou Kurmaseva is journalist based in Prague for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is funded by the US Congress and labeled by Russia a “foreign agent”, meaning it receives funding from abroad for activities deemed political.
Kurmaseva was arrested this week, becoming the second American journalist to be detained in Russia.
The Kremlin is not following the case, its spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Russia is not conducting a targeted campaign to prosecute US citizens, but if they do something illegal they are responsible for it under Russian law.
The Sovetsky court in Kazan, Tatarstan, earlier told the press that the journalist for US media outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was being prosecuted for breaching her obligations to register as a “foreign agent” after entering Russia on May 20, adding that the investigating authorities requested her pre-trial detention.
The Russian-American journalist, who is detained in the city of Kazan (western Russia), holds an American and a Russian passport, as the Athens News Agency points out citing international media.
She was arrested and taken into temporary custody by Russian security authorities as she waited for her return flight on June 2.
Her passports were confiscated at Kazan airport and she was fined for failing to declare her US passport to Russian authorities.
She was fined $103.26 on Oct. 11, according to court documents.
Kurmaseva faces prosecution for failing to declare to authorities that she is a “foreign agent” and faces up to five years in prison, according to RFE/RL.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president Geoffrey Gedmin said Kurmaseva is a “reputable colleague, devoted wife and mother of two” and should be released from prison to return to her family immediately.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based NGO, called on Russian authorities to “immediately release” Alsou Kurmaseva and “drop all prosecutions” against her.
Kurmasheva is the second journalist with American citizenship to be arrested in Russia in 2023. She was preceded by Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovits, who was arrested in Moscow on March 19 and faces charges of espionage, which the person concerned and the newspaper characterize phaidres.
Source: News Beast
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