Russian court extends detention of US-Russian journalist

By AFP
October 24, 2023
US-Russian dual citizen and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was detained June 2, 2023, in Kazan, Russia. CNN
US-Russian dual citizen and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was detained June 2, 2023, in Kazan, Russia. CNN

MOSCOW: A Russian court on Monday ordered Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to be detained until December 5, after prosecutors said she had failed to register as a “foreign agent”. 

She is the second US journalist to be arrested in Russia this year, following Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in March on espionage charges that he and his employer vehemently deny.

Kurmasheva, who works for the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) media outlet, was detained by Russian law enforcement officers in the central city of Kazan last Wednesday. The Sovietsky district court in Kazan -- the main city of the Tatarstan republic -- ruled she should be kept in detention as a “preventative measure”.