Russian court rejects appeal by RFE/RL journalist Alsa Kurmasheva over fine

A court in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan region, has rejected an appeal by the lawyer of Alsa Kurmasheva, a journalist for Radio Free Europe’s Tatar-Bashkir service, against another court’s decision to fine her 10,000 roubles ($110) for “failing to inform an official of the possession of another nationality.”

After the Soviet district court issued its ruling on 4 December, the decision to fine Kurmasheva, who has been in Russian custody since 18 October in a separate case, officially came into force.

Kurmasheva, an RFE/RL journalist from Prague who holds dual US and Russian citizenship, travelled to Russia in May to attend to a family emergency.

While waiting for her return flight on 2 June, she was temporarily detained at Kazan airport, where both her passports were confiscated. She was unable to leave Russia because she was waiting for her travel documents to be returned.

On 11 October, a court ordered Kurmasheva to pay a fine for failing to declare her US passport to the Russian authorities.

Kurmasheva was detained again on 18 October, this time on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent, an offence punishable by up to five years in prison.

The Investigative Committee reported that Kurmasheva is charged under the part of the Criminal Code relating to the registration of foreign agents who carry out “deliberate collection of information in the field of military, military-technical activities of Russia” which, if received by foreign sources, “can be used against security states”.

He did not provide further details.

Last week, a Soviet district court extended Kurmasheva’s detention until at least 5 February.

The Investigative Committee said that the investigation had found that the Russian Justice Ministry had not added her to the list of foreign agents, but she had not submitted documents to be included in the register.

Kurmasheva and the RFE/RL have denied the accusation.

Russia’s detention of Kurmasheva, the second American member of the media detained by Moscow this year, has sparked a wave of criticism from human rights groups and politicians who say the move signals a new level of wartime censorship.

The court’s decision to extend Kurmosheva’s detention was taken on 1 December, a day after Russia’s leading human rights organisation Memorial recognised her as a political prisoner.

Moscow has been accused of detaining Americans to use them as bargaining chips for Russians imprisoned in the US. Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in March for alleged espionage – a charge he and the newspaper vehemently deny.

Kurmasheva is one of four RFE/RL journalists — Andrei Kuznetsik, Ihar Losik and Vladislav Yespenko are the other three — currently in jail on charges related to their work. Human rights groups and the RFE/RL have repeatedly called for the release of all those imprisoned, claiming that they have been detained unjustly.

Losik is a blogger and contributor to the Belarusian RFE/RL service, who was convicted on several charges, including “organising and preparing acts in flagrant violation of public order” and sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2021.

Kuznechik, the online editor of the Belarusian RFE/RL service, was sentenced to six years in prison in June 2022 after a trial lasting no more than a few hours. He was convicted of “creating or participating in an extremist organisation”.

Yesipenko, a Ukrainian-Russian citizen and journalist for Crimea.Realities, the regional news service of the Ukrainian RFE/RL, was sentenced to six years in prison by a Russian judge in occupied Crimea after a closed-door trial in February 2022. He was convicted of “possession and transportation of explosives”, a charge he vehemently denies./RSE/