A court in the Russian city of Kazan has extended the detention of Alsu Kurmasheva, a veteran journalist of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Tatar-Bashkir Service who has been in Russian custody since October 18, by two months until April 5.
The Sovetsky District Court of Kazan held the hearing on February 1 behind closed doors. Members of the press were only allowed to be present during the announcement of the decision, while others present were completely refused entry. Representatives from the embassies of Austria, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands were present at the court.
“Russian authorities are conducting a deplorable criminal campaign against the wrongfully detained Alsu Kurmasheva. Imprisoned and treated unjustly simply because she is an American journalist, Alsu’s prison sentence has been extended again,” acting RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said in a statement.
Kurmasheva's lawyer argued the court should change the preventive measure to house arrest, but the demand was refused.
Kurmasheva, a Prague, Czech Republic-based journalist with RFE/RL who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenships, has been held in Russian custody since October 18 on a charge of violating the so-called foreign agent law.
SEE ALSO: 'Stand Up And Keep Going': Russian Journalists Abroad Keep Independent Media AliveDespite recently spending her 100th day in custody, Kurmasheva has yet to be designated by the U.S. State Department as "wrongfully detained" as it has other U.S. citizens held in Russia.
The designation would raise the profile of the case against Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, effectively labeling it politically motivated. Two other U.S. citizens held by Russia, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, have been designated as wrongfully detained.
"The world’s journalistic, human rights organizations, and diplomatic communities are standing with Alsu today. RFE/RL thanks the EU governments who sent representatives to today’s proceedings. Yet, Russia continues its systematic prosecution," Capus said.
"Alsu should be officially declared 'wrongfully detained' by the United States Department of State, just as the Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich was immediately designated after his unjust arrest. Russia bears the ultimate responsibility for Alsu’s fate. Alsu should be released immediately and allowed to return to her loving family.
It is beyond time to #FreeAlsu,” he added.
Kurmasheva, who has worked for RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service for some 25 years, left the Czech capital in mid-May because of a family emergency in her native Tatarstan, one of Russia's many republics.
SEE ALSO: How The Russian State Ramped Up The Suppression Of Dissent In 2023: 'It Worked In The Soviet Union, And It Works Now'She was briefly detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2, 2023, at the Kazan airport, where both of her passports and phone were confiscated. After five months waiting for a decision in her case, Kurmasheva was fined 10,000 rubles ($110) for failing to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities.
Unable to leave Russia without her travel documents, Kurmasheva was detained again in October and this time handed the failure to register as a foreign agent charge. Two months later, she was charged with spreading falsehoods about the Russian military.
Kurmasheva recently wrote from her prison cell in the Russian city of Kazan that her detention is "becoming slowly but surely less bearable."
Many critics and rights group say the so-called foreign agent law is used by the Kremlin to crack down on any dissent.
Moscow has been accused of detaining Americans to use as bargaining chips to exchange for Russians jailed in the United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December that there had been "dialogue" between U.S. and Russian officials over the release of Gershkovich and Whelan. The two Americans are being held on espionage charges that they deny.
RFE/RL's jailed journalists (left to right): Alsu Kurmasheva, Ihar Losik, Andrey Kuznechyk, and Vladyslav Yesypenko
Kurmasheva is one of four RFE/RL journalists -- Andrey Kuznechyk, Ihar Losik, and Vladyslav Yesypenko are the other three -- currently imprisoned on charges related to their work. Rights groups and RFE/RL have called repeatedly for the release of all four, saying they have been wrongly detained.
Losik is a blogger and contributor for RFE/RL’s Belarus Service who was convicted in December 2021 on several charges including the “organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order” and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Kuznechyk, a web editor for RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, was sentenced in June 2022 to six years in prison following a trial that lasted no more than a few hours. He was convicted of “creating or participating in an extremist organization.”
Yesypenko, a dual Ukrainian-Russian citizen who contributed to Crimea.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, was sentenced in February 2022 to six years in prison by a Russian judge in occupied Crimea after a closed-door trial. He was convicted of “possession and transport of explosives,” a charge he steadfastly denies.