US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva convicted of spreading false news about Russian army: Court records

A court spokesperson confirmed to The Associated Press that Kurmasheva was sentenced to 6½ in prison in a case classified as secret.

By: AP

Moscow | July 22, 2024 07:51 PM IST

2 min read

Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor for the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Tatar-Bashkir service, attends a court hearing in Kazan, Russia on May 31, 2024. A Russian court has convicted Kurmasheva of spreading false information about the Russian army and sentenced her to 6½ years in prison after a secret trial, court records and officials said Monday July 22, 2024. (AP File Photo)

A Russian court has convicted Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, of spreading false information about the Russian army and sentenced her to 6½ years in prison after a secret trial, court records and officials said Monday.

The conviction in the city of Kazan came on Friday, the same day that a court in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison in a case that the US called politically motivated.

Kurmasheva, an editor for RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir service, was convicted of “spreading false information” about the military, according to the website of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan.

Court spokesperson Natalya Loseva confirmed to The Associated Press by phone that Kurmasheva was sentenced to 6½ in prison in a case classified as secret, with no details available of the nature of the accusations against her.

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Asked about the verdict on Monday, Stephen Capus, RFE/RL president and CEO, denounced the trial against Kurmasheva and the 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.” “It’s beyond time for this American citizen, our dear colleague, to be reunited with her loving family,” Capus said in a statement to the AP.

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