RFE/RL Editor Alsu Kurmasheva Detained in Russia and Charged with Failing to Register as a Foreign Agent

Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) editor Alsu Kurmasheva has been detained in Russia and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, according to her employer. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Kurmasheva, an editor with RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir service, is being held in a temporary detention center, citing a Russian state news agency.

Kurmasheva is the second U.S. journalist to be detained in Russia this year. She has been working for the U.S. government-funded media company since 2013, when a handout frame released by RFE/RL showed her posing for a photo during a work break at the company’s headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic.

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has expressed concern over the detention of Kurmasheva and other journalists in Russia. The embassy said in a statement that it is “deeply troubled by the ongoing harassment and detention of journalists in Russia, which is a direct violation of the right to freedom of expression.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Russian authorities to immediately release Kurmasheva and drop all charges against her. The organization said in a statement that the detention of journalists in Russia is “a clear attempt to intimidate and silence independent media.”

Kurmasheva’s detention is the latest in a series of incidents targeting journalists in Russia. In recent years, the country has seen a crackdown on press freedom, with journalists facing harassment, intimidation, and even physical attacks.