A court in Russia on April 1 extended the pre-trial detention of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until June 5, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports.
The Sovetsky District Court of Kazan also rejected a request from Kurmasheva's lawyers to convert the detention to house arrest.
Before the court hearing, Kurmasheva told reporters that she "wasn't feeling very well physically" and that her living conditions in detention were "very bad."
Kurmasheva said she received "minimal" medical care and that conditions in her cell were primitive, with a hole in the floor serving as a toilet.
According to Russian media, including the daily Kommersant, US Consul General Stuart Wilson was present in the courtroom during the hearing.
Kurmasheva, 47, was arrested in Kazan last October and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent under a Russian criminal law that targets journalists, civil society activists and others. She is also accused of spreading false information about the Russian military. If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison.
Radio Free Europe and the U.S. government describe the charges as retaliation for her work as a Radio Free Europe journalist in Prague. She had traveled to Russia to visit and care for her elderly mother and was initially arrested while waiting for a return flight at Kazan airport on June 2, where her U.S. and Russian passports were confiscated.
Many critics and human rights groups believe that the Kremlin is using the so-called foreign agents law to crack down on all kinds of dissidents.
Moscow is also accused of arresting Americans to use them as bargaining chips for Russians imprisoned in the United States.
In February, 23 countries nominated Kurmasheva for the 2024 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
Established in 1997, the prize is awarded annually to an individual or group of individuals who make an "outstanding" contribution to the protection and promotion of press freedom worldwide, despite facing "danger and persecution."/The Geopost/
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