EU calls on Russia to immediately release Radio Svoboda journalist

This was written by EU High Representative Josep Borrell in the social network X, Ukrinform reported.

“The EU calls on Russian authorities to immediately release journalist Alsu Kurmasheva who faces up to 15 years in prison for carrying out journalistic work” Borrell wrote.

He said that Russia's authorities must ensure safety of journalists and their right to freedom of expression and stop prosecuting them.

As reported by Ukrinform, Alsu Kurmasheva is a citizen of the United States and Russia, lives in Prague with her husband and two children. She arrived in Russia on May 20 for family reasons. On June 2, Kurmasheva was detained at the Kazan airport while waiting for a flight to return to the Czech Republic. Her American and Russian passports were confiscated.

Last week, the Russian regime opened another criminal case against Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist of the Tatar-Bashkir service of Radio Svoboda, for an article about 'fakes' about the Russian army. Earlier, a court in Kazan found her guilty of failing to report her second citizenship and sentenced her to a fine of 10 thousand rubles. Kurmasheva is currently in a pre-trial detention center on a case of violating the law on 'foreign agents'.

The Russian authorities have not yet granted the American side consular access to Radio Svoboda journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who is held in jail and has, among other things, American citizenship.