Russian court sentences Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to 6.5 years in prison

US calls for release of reporter committed to “truth and reporting principles”

Jul 23. () –

The Supreme Court of the Russian republic of Tatarstan has sentenced Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who worked as an editor for the Tatar-Bashkir service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), to 6.5 years in prison for “spreading false information” about the Russian army.

“Six years and six months in a general regime penal colony. The sentence was handed down on Friday,” a judicial source told the Russian news agency TASS.

She was also fined 10,000 rubles (about 100 euros) for failing to report receiving US citizenship in 2015. Kurmasheva has been in pre-trial detention since October 2023, when she was arrested for violating the foreign agents law, which requires registration as such for those who “collect information in the field of military and military-technical activities of the Russian Federation that, if received from foreign sources, may be used against its security.”

The US government, for its part, has called for the journalist’s release and has assured that it is “focused” on her case.

“We remain focused on the case of Alsu Kurmasheva. She is a dedicated journalist who is targeted by Russian authorities for her uncompromising commitment to truth and her reporting principles. Journalism is not a crime, as you have heard us say repeatedly, and we continue to make it abundantly clear that she must be released,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said during a press briefing.