Russia Jails Radio Free Europe Journalist for Over Six Years

Facts

• Russian state media reported on Monday that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual Russian-American national, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison on Friday.¹
• This comes as she was found guilty of failing to register as a 'foreign agent' and disseminating 'false information' about the Russian army in a secret trial in the southwestern city of Kazan.²
• The Prague-based journalist for the US-funded news outlet has been under arrest in Russia since last October when she visited her family in her native region of Tatarstan.³
• While Russia has designated RFE/RL a 'foreign agent' and 'undesirable organization,' effectively banning the broadcaster inside Russia, her husband, Pavel Butorin, claims her arrest stems from an anti-war, pro-Ukraine book she edited.⁴
• Also on Friday, Wall Street Journal writer Evan Gershkovich was handed a 16-year sentence for espionage in a three-day trial in a separate court in Yekaterinburg, bringing the number of Americans sentenced to jail in Russia to at least six.⁵
• These convictions have been seen by some as a sign that the Kremlin may be preparing for a possible prisoner swap with the White House, especially as Russian officials say discreet talks — at least about Gershkovich — are underway.⁶

Sources: ¹Wsj, ²Guardian, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴NBC, ⁵Reuters and ⁶New York Times.

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. A free and independent press is at the core of a democracy. Moscow has sentenced another American journalist to a long prison sentence on trumped-up charges. It's a sad day for journalism in Russia when truthtellers and dissenting voices are silenced like this. Kurmasheva and Gershkovich should be released immediately.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by RT. America's state-run RFE/RL has been an ideological mouthpiece for the CIA since the early days of the Cold War, promoting anti-Soviet and anti-Russia propaganda. So, it's logical that a Russian national working for such an outlet should register as a foreign agent. On top of that, a book she recently edited spreads false information about the war in Ukraine.

Predictions