The sentence entered into force in the first case of journalist Alsa Kurmasheva

Earlier, the magistrate fined her 10,000 rubles in this case.

The journalist’s lawyer appealed the sentence, arguing that she is not subject to the notification requirements, since she has been permanently living outside of Russia since 1998. The court did not agree with these arguments, the verdict entered into force.

Kurmasheva is now in pre-trial detention center on a second criminal case related to the law on so-called foreign agents.
The journalist has US and Russian citizenship. Before her arrest, she lived in Prague with her husband and children. In the middle of May, she came to her native city of Kazan due to family circumstances. On June 2, Alsa Kurmasheva was detained at the Kazan airport before her flight home. Her American and Russian passports were confiscated. A criminal case was opened against the journalist for failure to notify her of her second citizenship. They took a subscription not to leave Alsu. The investigation of this case dragged on for several months. The magistrate announced the verdict and fined Kurmasheva 10,000 rubles only on October 11.

A week later, the journalist was detained again, and then arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention center. She is accused of not submitting an application to include herself in the register of “foreign agents”. Last Friday, the Soviet District Court of Kazan extended the term of arrest until February 5, 2024.

The human rights project “Support of Political Prisoners. Memorial” recognized Alsa Kurmasheva as a political prisoner.

• The government condemned the detention of journalists Canada, the Czech RepublicFrance, of Poland and Swedenas well as The Supreme Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, President of the European Parliament, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on issues of media freedom and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The platform of the Council of Europe to promote the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists published a call to free Alsa.
• International human rights and media freedom organizations also condemned Kurmasheva’s detention as politically motivated and called for her immediate release. Among them: Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom HousePEN-America, Reporters Without Borders, the International Federation of Journalists, etc International Press Institute. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists stated that “Alsu Kurmasheva’s arrest is today the most egregious example of abuse of the Russian legislation on foreign agents against the independent press.”