Russian-American journalist jailed by Moscow for six-and-a-half years
www.theguardian.com
Alsu Kurmasheva convicted after secret trial for spreading ‘false information’ about armed forces

A Russian court has sentenced Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, to six-and-a-half years in prison after a rushed, secret trial.

Kurmasheva, a Prague-based editor, was arrested last year during a family visit to the city of Kazan in south-west Russia for failing to register as a “foreign agent” and for spreading “false information” about the country’s armed forces, under crippling censorship laws enacted after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Kurmasheva’s husband, Pavel Butorin, who also works for RFE/RL, said the case against her was related to a book that she had edited entitled Saying No to War. 40 Stories of Russians Who Oppose the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

Kurmasheva, 47, who is married with two children, is the second US journalist to be sentenced in Russia in recent years.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    3·
    5 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    A Russian court has sentenced Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, to six-and-a-half years in prison after a rushed, secret trial.

    Gershkovich’s trial was similarly concluded with unusual haste, raising hopes of a prisoner swap involving the Wall Street Journal reporter, which has long been the subject of private discussions between Russian and US officials.

    Still, Kurmasheva’s verdict, handed down on the same day as Gershkovich’s, suggests that Russia might be seeking to trade her for Russians wanted by the Kremlin, including several deep-cover spies behind bars in the west.

    Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia has launched an unprecedented crackdown on protesters, independent news outlets and foreign social media networks.

    In March 2023, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, signed off on a draconian law imposing a jail term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally “fake” news about the military, in effect criminalising any public criticism of the war.

    Stephen Capus, the RFE/RL president and CEO, on Monday denounced the trial of Kurmasheva and her conviction as “a mockery of justice” and said that “the only just outcome is for Alsu to be immediately released from prison by her Russian captors”.

    The original article contains 481 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 58%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!