MOSCOW: A Russian court found US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva guilty of breaking stringent military censorship regulations, and she was sentenced to more than six years in prison. Her employer denounced the decision as a “mockery of justice.”
On Friday, in a covert trial that was not disclosed beforehand, 47-year-old Kurmasheva was found guilty. Simultaneously, a Russian court sentenced American journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison for espionage. The accusations made against the two journalists have been denied as unfounded.
While visiting her ailing mother in Russia last year, Kurmasheva, an editor for the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) station in Prague, was taken into custody.
She was charged with the more serious offense of “false information” while in pre-trial detention after having her passports seized for failing to declare her dual citizenship. She was also detained for failing to register as a “foreign agent.” Kurmasheva’s employer and family were not informed of the details of her conviction until Monday.
“Alsu Kurmasheva received her sentence on Friday. Six years, six months,” stated Tatarstan’s Supreme Court spokesperson Natalya Loseva.
The only information available on the court’s website is that she was found guilty during a Friday hearing; the sentence is not mentioned.
