Russian-US journalist jailed for ‘false information’

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Kurmasheva’s work has focused on issues facing ethnic minorities of central Russia

Russian-American journalist, Alsu Kurmasheva, has been jailed for six-and-a-half years by a court in the central city of Kazan on a charge of spreading false information about the Russian army.

An editor for US-funded Radio, Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), said the mother of two was arrested in Russia last October for failing to register as a foreign agent.

She was sentenced on Friday, court officials said, the same day that fellow US journalist, Evan Gershkovich, was jailed for 16 years for espionage.

Ms Kurmasheva denies any wrongdoing, and Stephen Capus, RFE/RL president and CEO, told the AP news agency that her conviction was “a mockery of justice”.

“It’s beyond time for this American citizen, our dear colleague, to be reunited with her loving family,” Mr Capus added.

Speaking to journalists when her custody was extended in May, Ms Kurmasheva said she had not spoken to her two children since her arrest, adding that her health was deteriorating.

Ms Kurmasheva, who holds both US and Russian citizenship, works for RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir service. The two languages are closely related and spoken by indigenous peoples in two central Russian regions.

Ms Kurmasheva’s work frequently focused on issues facing the ethnic minorities of central Russia.

According to RFE/RL, Ms Kurmasheva, who lives in the Czech Republic, travelled to Kazan in late May last year for a family emergency. She was detained while waiting for her return flight and her Russian and American passports were confiscated.

—BBC