Moscow jails Russian-America journalist Alsu Kurmasheva for over six years
Al Jazeera
The journalist is accused of not registering as a ‘foreign agent’ and for spreading ‘false information’ about the Russian army.
A Russian court has sentenced Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for the United States-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), to six and a half years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian army.
Natalya Loseva, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court of Tatarstan, told reporters in the southern city of Kazan on Monday that Kurmasheva was sentenced on Friday after two days of court proceedings.
The sentencing was on the same day that a court in Yekaterinburg sentenced another US citizen, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, to 16 years in prison for espionage after a three-day trial behind closed doors.
RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus called Kurmasheva’s trial and conviction “a mockery of justice”, adding that “the only just outcome is for Alsu to be immediately released from prison by her Russian captors”.
“It’s beyond time for this American citizen, our dear colleague, to be reunited with her loving family,” Capus said in a statement.
