Alsu Kurmasheva serves as an editor for RFL/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir Service.
October 19, 2023, 5:56 AM
LONDON — A journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has been detained in Russia and charged with failure to check in as a foreign agent, the news outlet mentioned on Wednesday.
Alsu Kurmasheva, who serves as an editor for the outlet’s Tatar-Bashkir Service, is a twin U.S.-Russian citizen, RFE/RL mentioned.
“Alsu is a highly respected colleague, devoted wife, and dedicated mother to two children,” the outlet’s performing President Dr. Jeffrey Gedmin mentioned in a remark. “She needs to be released so she can return to her family immediately.”
Kurmasheva, who lives in Prague, traveled to Russia for a “family emergency” in May and was once detained on the airport in Kazan as she awaited her go back flight on June 2, RFE/RL mentioned. Officials took her U.S. and Russian passports.
“She was subsequently fined for failure to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities,” the outlet mentioned in a remark. “She was awaiting the return of her passports when the new charge was announced on October 18.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York non-profit, mentioned in a remark that the costs have been “spurious.” The staff referred to as for Kurmasheva’s instant unlock.
“Journalism is not a crime and Kurmasheva’s detention is yet more proof that Russia is determined to stifle independent reporting.”
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