MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has detained an editor at U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for failing to register as a foreign agent, the broadcaster said.
What is known – and what is unknown – about the detention?
WHO?
Alsu Kurmasheva, is an editor with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Tatar-Bashkir Service. She joined RFE in 1998.
Kurmasheva, 47, holds both U.S. and Russian passports. She is married and has two children, according to RFE/RL. She studied English and Turkish at university.
“Kurmasheva is an accomplished journalist who has long covered ethnic minority communities in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in the Volga-Ural region of Russia,” RFE/RL said.
“She has reported on initiatives to protect and preserve the Tatar language and culture from Russian authorities, who have exerted increased pressure on Tatars in recent years.”
WHAT HAPPENED?
Kurmasheva traveled to Russia for a family emergency on May 20. As she waited for her return flight on June 2, she was temporarily detained.
At Russia’s Kazan airport, her passports were confiscated and she was fined for failure to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities.
According to Russian court documents, she was fined 10,000 roubles for failing to register her U.S. passport on Oct. 11, 2023.
On Oct. 18, she was charged with failure to register as a foreign agent. She could face up to five years in prison, according to RFE/RL.
WHAT HAS RUSSIA SAID?
Russia has so far not commented on the arrest.
Russia’s Tatar-Inform news agency said Kurmasheva had failed to register as a “foreign agent” while gathering information on Russia’s military activity.
WHAT IS A FOREIGN AGENT?
The term, which carries Cold War connotations of espionage, is used in Russia to label organisations, journalists, activists and even pop stars and writers deemed to be engaging in political activity with foreign support.
Under Russian law, individuals and organisations receiving funding from abroad can be declared foreign agents, potentially undermining their credibility with the Russian public. Those deemed foreign agents must mark their published work with a disclaimer noting their status.
WHAT HAS THE REACTION BEEN?
– RFE/RL: “Alsu is a highly respected colleague, devoted wife, and dedicated mother to two children,” said RFE/RL acting president Jeffrey Gedmin.”She needs to be released so she can return to her family immediately.”
– The Committee to Protect Journalists: “CPJ is deeply concerned by the detention of U.S-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva on spurious criminal charges and calls on Russian authorities to release her immediately and drop all charges against her,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Journalism is not a crime and Kurmasheva’s detention is yet more proof that Russia is determined to stifle independent reporting.”
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow and Filip Lebedev in Tbilisi)
