Russia Extends Detention Of US-Russian Reporter Kurmasheva

A Russian court on Thursday extended until 5 April the detention of US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva on charges denounced by her employers as politically motivated.

Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist, was arrested last year for failing to register as a "foreign agent".

Her employers says he has also been charged with spreading "false information", which carries a potential jail term of up to 15 years.

At the closed-door hearing, Kurmasheva's lawyers had asked that she be released under house arrest, pending trial.

A court in the central city of Kazan said it had ruled Thursday to keep her in pre-trial detention until April 5.

Her employer RFE/RL, who says she faces 15 years in prison if convicted of spreading "false information", condemned the court's decision.

"Russian authorities are conducting a deplorable criminal campaign against the wrongfully detained Alsu Kurmasheva," RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said in a statement.

He said she had been "imprisoned and treated unjustly simply because she is an American journalist".

Russia has used sweeping censorship laws to ban criticism of its armed forces and independent reporting on its two-year military campaign.

Kurmasheva, who lives in Prague with her husband and two children, had her US and Russian passports confiscated last June after travelling to Russia for a family emergency.

She was arrested for failing to register as a "foreign agent" in October while awaiting the return of her passports.

The "foreign agents" charge carries up to five years in prison, spreading "false information" up to 15 years.

Her lawyers and family have denied the charges and called for her immediate release.

Moscow has jailed dozens of its most high-profile critics and independent journalists for years under censorship laws passed days after it ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Kurmasheva is the second US journalist to be arrested in Russia in the past 12 months.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is also being held in pre-trial detention in Moscow on espionage charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

He too has denied the charges.

RFE/RL is pushing for the United States to designate Kurmasheva "wrongfully detained" -- a label which unlocks extra diplomatic support from Washington to secure her release.

Russia has labelled RFE/RL a "foreign agent" -- a term with Soviet-era spy connotations designed to cut off support.

In 2022, Kurmasheva edited a book titled, "Saying No to War" -- a collection of interviews and stories from Russians opposed to Moscow's campaign against Ukraine.

The US State Department said last year that Kurmasheva's arrest "appears to be another case of the Russian government harassing US citizens".