The Kremlin extends the detention of “Radio Free Europe” journalist Kurmasheva

Kurmasheva was smiling at the court in Kazan on Monday, but complained about the poor condition of her cell.

RFE/RL criticized the journalist’s arrest on Monday and insisted that she was imprisoned “simply because she has an American passport.”

“The charges against Alsu are baseless. This is not a legal process, it’s a political show, and Alsu and her family are unjustifiably paying a terrible price,” said RFE/RL’s Stephen Kapus, declaring that “Russia must end this farce and immediately and unconditionally release Alsu “.

Kurmasheva is a dual citizen of the United States and Russia and editor of RFE/RL’s Tatar and Bashkir service. She was arrested in Kazan in October and the court placed her under arrest.

The journalist’s permanent residence is in Prague, but she came to Russia last year on May 20 due to family problems. On June 2, before her scheduled departure, she was briefly detained at the Kazan airport, where her US and Russian passports were confiscated and she was fined for not registering her US passport with the Russian authorities.

While Kurmasheva was waiting for the return of both passports, a new charge of not registering the status of “foreign agent” was announced. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison. She faces up to 15 years in prison on another charge of “spreading false information” about Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Critics accuse Russia of indiscriminately arresting US passport holders in order to exchange them for Russian citizens in US prisons.

Kurmasheva is the second US journalist detained by Russian authorities. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained in Russia since March and is accused of espionage.

Both Kurmasheva and Gershkovich deny the charges brought against them in Russia.