Russia condemns one other journalist for spreading “pretend information”

Moscow. A courtroom in Tatarstan, a Muslim-majority republic that’s a part of the Russian Federation, sentenced journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to 6 and a half years in jail within the metropolis of Kazan for spreading “false information” in regards to the Russian military’s involvement in Russia’s navy operation in Ukraine, the Tatar Supreme Court docket posted on its web site.

The spokeswoman for the courtroom, Natalia Losieva, confirmed on Monday that the decision was handed down final Friday in a closed-door trial and mentioned that Kurmasheva, 47, a citizen of each Russia and the USA, must serve her sentence in a medium-security detention heart.

The sentencing of Kurmasheva, editor of the Tatarstan and Bashkiria (one other Muslim-majority republic in central Russia) service of the US-funded Radio Liberty broadcaster, got here on the identical day as that of the US correspondent for the each day Wall Avenue JournalEvan Gershkovich, sentenced in Yekaterinburg to 16 years in jail for “espionage,” based on the Sverdlovsk regional courtroom.

In line with Tatar-Inform, Russian authorities have accused Kurmasheva of coordinating the preparation of the e-book “No to Struggle. Testimonies of 40 Russians Opposing the Invasion of Ukraine,” which was printed by her broadcaster’s service for Tatarstan and Bashkiria within the fall of 2022.

Initially from Kazan, Kurmasheva has been residing in Prague together with her husband and two daughters since 1998, and travelled to Tatarstan to take care of her severely ailing mom. On the day she was as a consequence of return to the Czech Republic, on 2 June 2023, police stopped Kurmasheva on the worldwide airport within the Tatar capital and took away each of her passports, stopping her from boarding a aircraft.

The authorities opened a felony case in opposition to her for failing to reveal that she had a second nationality, and in October of that yr, a courtroom discovered her responsible of breaking the legislation and fined her 10,000 rubles, equal to about 2,000 pesos.

Per week later, authorities arrested Kurmasheva once more for failing to voluntarily register as a “overseas agent” and dominated that she ought to be held in pre-trial detention, however a month and a half later, on December 11, 2023, they charged her with spreading “pretend information” in regards to the navy, a cost that carries harsher penalties.

There are indications that the Kremlin and the White Home are nonetheless negotiating a attainable prisoner alternate, which might embrace journalists Kurmasheva and Gershkovich.