In courtroom within the central metropolis of Kazan on Monday, Kurmasheva smiled however complained concerning the poor situations by which she was being held.
“This cell is 5 sq. metres for 2 folks. There isn’t a sizzling water. As a substitute of a rest room there’s a gap within the ground,” she mentioned.
A journalist on the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), she was arrested final 12 months for failing to register as a “overseas agent”.
RFE/RL says she was subsequently charged with spreading false info underneath new censorship legal guidelines launched after Russia launched its army offensive on Ukraine in 2022.
Kurmasheva edited a 2022 ebook titled, “Saying No to Conflict” — a group of interviews and tales from Russians against Moscow’s marketing campaign in opposition to Ukraine.
RFE/RL on Monday known as her imprisonment “outrageous” and mentioned she had been locked up “just because she holds an American passport.”
“The fees in opposition to Alsu are baseless. It is not a authorized course of, it is a political ploy, and Alsu and her household are unjustifiably paying a horrible value,” RFE/RL head Stephen Capus mentioned.
“Russia should finish this sham and instantly launch Alsu with out situation,” he added.
Kurmasheva, who lives in Prague together with her husband and two kids, had her US and Russian passports confiscated final June after travelling to Russia for a household emergency.
She was then arrested for failing to register as a “overseas agent” in October whereas awaiting the return of her passports.
That cost carries as much as 5 years in jail whereas spreading “false info” has a most sentence of 15 years.
Rights teams have accused Russia of utilizing oppressive laws to focus on regime critics and unbiased journalists.
Kurmasheva is the second US journalist to be arrested in Russia for the reason that begin of Moscow’s army offensive in Ukraine.
Wall Road Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has spent greater than a 12 months in jail in Moscow on espionage prices that carry a most sentence of 20 years in jail.
He too has denied the costs.
Kurmasheva’s legal professionals had known as for her to be launched from jail and put underneath home arrest pending the trial.
The listening to didn’t concern the substance of the case.
The US State Division mentioned final 12 months that Kurmasheva’s arrest “seems to be one other case of the Russian authorities harassing US residents”.
Washington has accused Moscow of arresting US residents with out proof to swap for the discharge of Russians jailed overseas.
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