A Russian court confirmed Monday that American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was convicted in a closed-door trial on charges seen widely as retaliatory.
Kurmasheva, who works at VOA’s sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, or RFE/RL, in Prague, was sentenced Friday to six and a half years in prison for spreading what Moscow views as false information about the Russian army, according to the website of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan.
“This secret trial and conviction make a mockery of justice — the only just outcome is for Alsu to be immediately released from prison by her Russian captors,” RFE/RL president and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement. “It’s beyond time for this American citizen, our dear colleague, to be reunited with her loving family.”
The closed-door trial took place in the city of Kazan, where Kurmasheva has been jailed since October 2023. Kazan is about 800 kilometers east of Moscow.
“It is a sham trial, and the fact that it was behind closed doors only confirms our doubts even more that this could have been a fair trial — which it wasn’t,” Karol Luczka, who covers Eastern Europe at the International Press Institute in Vienna, told VOA.
Kurmasheva, an editor for RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir Service, was initially accused of failing to register her American passport and failing to self-register as a so-called “foreign agent.” She was later charged with spreading what the Kremlin views as false information about the military. The charges carried a combined sentence of up to 15 years behind bars.
Kurmasheva, 47, traveled to Russia in May 2023 to care for her elderly mother. Authorities prevented her from leaving the country in June and confiscated her passports. Then, in October, she was taken into custody.
WATCH: Russia convicts 2nd American journalist
The journalist and her employer have consistently rejected the charges against her. The U.S. government has also called for her immediate release.
Kurmasheva’s jailing has taken a severe toll on her husband and two daughters in Prague.
“It would be one thing if she was only away from me for so long, but to know that she’s in an unsafe place and that she is in danger and she’s not comfortable, that’s something that really makes me sad,” Kurmasheva’s eldest daughter Bibi Butorin told VOA in Prague earlier in July.
Kurmasheva is a dual U.S.-Russian national, but Russia has denied her U.S. consular access.
Court spokesperson Natalya Loseva confirmed to The Associated Press that Kurmasheva was sentenced to six and a half years in prison in a case classified as secret, with no details available of the nature of the accusations against her.
“This secret trial and the sentencing itself illustrate the unprecedented level of arbitrariness achieved by Russia courts, which take orders from the Kremlin,” Jeanne Cavelier, the head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk at Reporters Without Borders, told VOA from Paris.
The charge of spreading what the Kremlin views as false information about the Russian military highlights Moscow’s extreme sensitivities over war coverage, according to Luczka.
“At least in terms of reporting on the war, there is no independent reporting in Russia because it is banned,” he said.
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment for this story.
Kurmasheva’s secret trial took place on the same day that American journalist Evan Gershkovich, 32, was sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison on espionage charges that he and the U.S. government vehemently deny.
Although Kurmasheva and Gershkovich’s trials were both shams, Luczka said he hopes the speed with which their cases have been advancing may be an indication that a prisoner swap will happen soon.
“The hunch would be that if these convictions are happening this fast right now, that a potential prisoner swap is being prepared,” Luczka said. “We want these journalists out. They should never have been arrested.”
At a press briefing on Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States is continuing to call for Kurmasheva’s release.
“We remain focused on the case of Alsu Kurmasheva. She’s a dedicated journalist who is being targeted by Russian authorities for her uncompromising commitment to speaking the truth,” Miller said. “Journalism is not a crime.”
In June, 19 media and press freedom groups called on the U.S. to do more to assist in Kurmasheva’s case, including by declaring her wrongfully detained, which would commit the U.S. government to seek her release.
In a joint letter to U.S. President Joe Biden, the organizations said that Kurmasheva’s arrest is “because she is a journalist and journalism is not a crime.”
“Russia’s only motive for holding her is to trade her for one of their assets,” the letter added.
During Monday’s press briefing, Miller said the State Department is still deciding whether to designate Kurmasheva as wrongfully detained. He declined to elaborate on the determination process.
Media watchdogs say Russia has a dire record for jailing journalists, with 22 detained as of late 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Nearly all those in custody are foreign nationals.
Kurmasheva and Gershkovich’s cases highlight the lack of media freedom in Russia, Luczka said.
“We can’t really speak of any press freedom in Russia,” he said.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
