Current:Home > MarketsRussian court extends detention of Russian-US journalist-InfoLens
Russian court extends detention of Russian-US journalist
View Date:2024-12-23 10:32:05
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Thursday ordered a detained Russian-American journalist to be held in jail for two more months pending her trial on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent.
Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Tatar-Bashkir service, was taken into custody on Oct. 18 and faces charges of not registering as a foreign agent while collecting information about the Russian military.
Kurmasheva, who holds U.S. and Russian citizenship and lives in Prague with her husband and two daughters, could face up to five years in prison if convicted.
The court in Tatarstan has rejected appeals from Kurmasheva’s lawyer to place her under house arrest.
RFE/RL expressed outrage over Thursday’s court decision to extend Kurmasheva’s detention until April 5 and demanded her immediate release.
“Russian authorities are conducting a deplorable criminal campaign against the wrongfully detained Alsu Kurmasheva,” RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said in a statement. He said she was “imprisoned and treated unjustly simply because she is an American journalist.”
Russian authorities have intensified a crackdown on Kremlin critics and independent journalists after President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, using legislation that effectively criminalized any public expression about the conflict that deviates from the Kremlin line.
Kurmasheva was the second U.S. journalist detained in Russia last year, after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges in March. Gershkovich remains in custody.
Kurmasheva was stopped June 2 at Kazan International Airport after traveling to Russia the previous month to visit her ailing elderly mother. Officials confiscated her U.S. and Russian passports and fined her for failing to register her U.S. passport. She was waiting for her passports to be returned when she was arrested on new charges in October.
RFE/RL was told by Russian authorities in 2017 to register as a foreign agent, but it has challenged Moscow’s use of foreign agent laws in the European Court of Human Rights. The organization has been fined millions of dollars by Russia.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Demure? Brain rot? Oxford announces shortlist for 2024 Word of the Year: Cast your vote
- Julia Fox's OMG Fashun Is Like Project Runway on Steroids in Jaw-Dropping Trailer
- Gray whale dies after it washed ashore Malibu beach: Experts hope to figure out why
- Experimental plane crashes in Arizona, killing 1 and seriously injuring another
- Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue
- 6 former Mississippi law officers to be sentenced for torture of 2 Black men
- 2 dead, 5 wounded in mass shooting in Washington, D.C., police say
- Parents of Michigan school shooting victims say more investigation is needed
- Dogecoin soars after Trump's Elon Musk announcement: What to know about the cryptocurrency
- Sheriff’s deputy shot and wounded in southern Kentucky
Ranking
- Why California takes weeks to count votes, while states like Florida are faster
- Apple may hire Google to build Gemini AI engine into next-generation iPhone
- Brooke Burke Weighs In On Ozempic's Benefits and Dangers
- Protecting abortion rights in states hangs in the balance of national election strategies
- MVSU football player killed, driver injured in crash after police chase
- Uber driver hits and kills a toddler after dropping her family at their Houston home
- United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby vows to keep passengers safe after multiple mishaps
- Run, Don’t Walk to Coach Outlet to Save 20% Off Bundles That’re a Match Made in Heaven
Recommendation
-
Supreme Court seems likely to allow class action to proceed against tech company Nvidia
-
Can an assist bring Sports Illustrated back to full strength? Here's some of the mag's iconic covers
-
It's 2024 and I'm sick of silly TV shows about politics.
-
Man seeks clemency to avoid what could be Georgia’s first execution in more than 4 years
-
Chicago Bears will ruin Caleb Williams if they're not careful | Opinion
-
Chinese billionaire pleads guilty to straw donor scheme in New York and Rhode Island
-
Why Elizabeth Hurley Felt Safe Filming Sex Scenes Directed By Her Son
-
Ed Sheeran takes the stage with Indian singer Diljit Dosanjh in Mumbai for surprise duet