National Press Club President Emily Wilkins is seen during a news briefing on the status of missing U.S. journalists Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal; Alsu Kurmasheva of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; and freelance journalist Austin Tice; on World Press Freedom Day at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on May 3. She made a new statement about Kurmasheva’s detention on Friday. Photo by Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE
A Russian court on Friday extended the pretrial detention of journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until Aug. 5.
Kurmasheva, who was based in Prague and holds dual U.S-Russian citizenship was working for Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty when she was taken into custody by Russian officials in October while visiting her mother. Advertisement
Her attorneys urged the Sovetsky District Court in Kaza to place her under house arrest but that plea was rejected. Prosecutors charged the veteran journalist who was based in Prague with not registering as a foreign agent and violating Russia’s censorship laws.
“The injustices multiply every day in this needless, cruel prosecution,” Stephen Capus, president and CEO of REE/RL said. “Alsu’s fundamental rights as an American citizen are being denied by Russian authorities who have now imprisoned her for 227 days.”
The National Press Club in Washington urged the Biden administration to get more involved in securing Kurmasheva’s release.
“We call, again, for the U.S. government to do the right thing and declare Alsu wrongly detained,” said National Press Club President Emily Wilkins in a statement. “Doing so would send a strong message that Alsu’s government is fully behind her. She deserves no less. Advertisement
“She is currently not receiving visits from our ambassador. She cannot make even one phone call to her daughters. These conditions would likely change were her detention was declared unlawful.”
