Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva with Russian and US citizenship was detained in Tatarstan
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Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist of the Tatar-Bashkir service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL, included in the register of foreign agents), with Russian and American citizenship, was detained in Kazan. She was accused of “refusing to register as a foreign agent,” the radio website said. Kommersant asked the US Embassy in the Russian Federation for comment.
The arrest was reported the day before, on October 18, by agency sources. “Tatar Inform”. Law enforcement agencies did not comment on this. According to the agency, the journalist “is accused of evading the duties provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation on foreign agents” (Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Tatar Inform also claims that Ms. Kurmasheva may face another charge “for publishing a book that portrays Russia’s special operation in Ukraine in a negative light.”
According to investigators, in September 2022, Ms. Kurmasheva “deliberately conducted a targeted collection of military information about Russian activities via the Internet in order to transmit information to foreign sources.” It is alleged that she received information about the mobilized teachers of one of the universities in Tatarstan and used the information in preparing “‘alternative analytical materials’ for relevant international authorities and conducting information campaigns discrediting Russia.” As Tatar Inform writes, the journalist did not provide the necessary documents to be included in the register of foreign agents, and also purposefully collected information “in the field of military activities of the Russian Federation,” which “if received by foreign sources could be used against the security of the Russian Federation.”
The maximum sanction under Art. 330.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – imprisonment for a term of up to five years, minimum – a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles. At the time of publication of Tatar Inform, Ms. Kurmasheva was in a pre-trial detention center awaiting a court decision regarding suppression.
The acting president of the RFE/RL media corporation, Jeffrey Gedmin, called for the immediate release of the journalist so that she could return to her family. “Alsu is highly respected by her colleagues; in her family she is a loving wife and a caring mother of two children,” he said.
Alsou Kurmasheva lives in Prague on a permanent basis with her husband and two children. On May 20, she traveled to Russia due to “urgent family needs.” She was detained while waiting for a return flight to the Czech Republic. According to Radio Liberty, both of her passports were confiscated from the journalist and she was fined for failure to comply with the requirement to register American citizenship. She was in Russia awaiting the return of her passports.
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