Prague, May 31, (dpa/GNA) – A Russian court has extended the pre-trial detention of US journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until the beginning of August, the Prague-based US foreign broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Friday.

A request by her defence lawyers to release her under house arrest was rejected by the district court in Kazan, RFE/RL said.

Kurmasheva, who works for the station’s Tatar programme, has been prevented from leaving Russia for a year, and has been in prison since October. RFE/RL condemned the imprisonment and said it was a punishment for Kurmasheva’s journalistic work.

Kurmasheva has dual US and Russian citizenship. RFE/RL says the 47-year-old, who lives in Prague, had travelled to Russia in May 2023 to visit her mother.

Shortly before her planned return flight, her passports were confiscated. Russia’s judiciary accuses her of not having registered as a “foreign agent.” The mother of two is facing up to five years in prison for this offence.

In Russia, people, media and organizations are classed as foreign agents if they receive money from another country. This is intended to stigmatize them as spies working in the interests of other states. The Kremlin has been cracking down on critical media, particularly since the war against Ukraine began more than two years ago.

Radio Free Europe was founded in 1949 at the height of the Cold War. The US Congress provides the annual budget of the equivalent of more than $100 million. GNA