Alsu Kurmasheva was arrested in the Russian city of Kazan, her employer Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty announced on Wednesday. Alsu Kurmasheva was indicted for not having declared herself “as a foreign agent”, a charge for which she faces up to five years in prison, specifies in a press release this private media financed by the American Congress.
The journalist, who usually lives in Prague, had to go to Russia for a “family emergency” on May 20, then was temporarily arrested on June 2 before her return flight to Kazan, explains RFE/RL. Her American and Russian passports confiscated, she found herself unable to leave Russia, before her indictment was finally announced on Wednesday.
In a statement, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the journalist was in a temporary detention center on Wednesday evening, according to information from the official Tatar-Inform news agency.
CPJ also calls on Russia to “immediately release” the journalist and “drop all charges” against her. “Journalism is not a crime, and Kurmasheva’s detention is further proof of Russia’s determination to stifle independent journalism,” the organization said in a statement.