Russia Jails Radio Free Europe Journalist for Over Six Years

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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