A Russian court sentenced a U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to six and a half years (or 78 months) in prison for allegedly reporting false information about the army.
The verdict was handed down on July 19 in a closed session, the daily newspaper Vedomosti reported on Monday, citing documents from the Supreme Court of Tatarstan.
The reason for the sentence was a book she published in November 2022 entitled “Saying No to War, 40 Stories of Russians Who Oppose the Russian Invasion of Ukraine,” according to the Russian opposition platform Meduza.
At almost the same time, the U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich from the Wall Street Journal was sentenced to 16 years in prison in Moscow for alleged espionage following a closed-door trial.
The United States has repeatedly accused the Russian government of abusing U.S. citizens in order to achieve political goals.
Kurmasheva, who works for the Tatar-Bashkir service of the U.S. foreign broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), had been jailed since October.
Stephen Capus, head of RFE/RL, called the trial and conviction “a mockery of justice.”
He added that “the only just outcome is for Alsu to be immediately released from prison by her Russian captors.”
“It’s beyond time for this American citizen, our dear colleague, to be reunited with her loving family,” he said.
Kurmasheva holds both U.S. and Russian citizenship.
According to her broadcaster, the 47-year-old, who lives in Prague, had travelled to Russia in May 2023 to visit her mother.
Shortly before her planned return flight, her passports were confiscated.
Radio Free Europe, which is now based in Prague, was founded in 1949 at the height of the Cold War.
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