Russia formally charges American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva detained for violating ‘foreign agent’ law

Russia, on Thursday (Oct 26) formally charged the Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva detained in the country for failing to register as a “foreign agent” days after extending her detention.

Kurmasheva, a Prague-based editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), is the second American to be detained by Russia after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who was arrested in March on spying charges, which he, his employer and the White House have since denied.

What are the charges?

According to a statement by RFE/RL, Russia’s investigative committee announced that she has been charged with a section of the criminal code which refers to the registration of foreign agents. This comes a week after she was arrested in the Russian city of Kazan.

Kurmasheva was charged with a violation of the law which requires registration of those who carry out “purposeful collection of information in the field of military, military-technical activities of Russia” as “foreign agents”, which if received by foreign sources, “can be used against the security of the country,” reported the RFE/RL’s Russian service.

ALSO READ |Explained: Russia detains another American journalist. Here’s what we know

RFE/RL is funded by the United States Congress and is designated by Moscow as a “foreign agent”.

The Russian-American journalist was detained on Wednesday (Oct 18) and is currently being held in pre-trial detention until at least December 5.

If found guilty, Kurmasheva faces up to five years in prison. However, the Russian-American journalist who lives in Prague with her husband and two children has denied the charge, according to RFE/RL.

Kurmasheva had travelled to Russia for a family emergency back in May and was temporarily detained on June 2 while waiting for her return flight at Kazan airport. Officials confiscated both her Russian and American passports.

ALSO READ |Israel-Hamas war: Russia, US proposals for UN action on Israel, Gaza rejected at Security Council

She was also fined $103 (10,000 roubles) on October 11 for not registering her passports.

‘Egregious’ escalation in Moscow’s decades-long crackdown: Rights groups

The Russian-American journalist’s detention has been called an “egregious” escalation in Moscow’s decades-long campaign against independent media in the country by right groups.

Kurmasheva’s detention has sparked a wave of criticism from rights groups, including critics who have called the law so broadly sweeping that it essentially allows Russian officials to arrest journalists at will.

ALSO READ |Slovakia’s newly elected PM Robert Fico stops military aid to Ukraine. And its personal

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CJP) called Kurmasheva’s arrest “the most egregious instance to date of the abusive use of Russia’s foreign agents’ legislation against independent press”.

Rights groups, as per AFP, have said that the Russian-American journalist’s arrest is the first time that Russian officials have pressed criminal charges of this kind against a journalist.

(With inputs from agencies)