Second American Journalist Imprisoned by Russian Government in 2023
The press condemned the Russian government for detaining an American-affiliated journalist for the second time in 2023 .
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Fair use, https://freedom.press/news/us-must-designate-alsu-kurmasheva-as-wrongfully-detained-in-russia/
The dull roar of busy conversation and hurried navigation set the backdrop of the Kazan International Airport as Radio Free Europe (RFE) journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, 47, rolled her possessions along the unsettlingly pristine tiles. After flying to Russia to take care of a family emergency amid a war and civil rights crisis, returning home to her family in Prague would be a relief. But unbeknownst to her, as she neared the security terminal, plans had already been set in motion that would keep her grounded for the following year. Kurmasheva, struck with shock and panic as the officials at the terminal confiscated her U.S. and Russian passports and detained her, would be kept from the date of her detainment, June 2, until October 18, when she would be charged with “failing to register as a foreign agent.” Ironically, only 11 days (about 1 and a half weeks) earlier, Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, grimly marked his 70th birthday with an austere celebration amid an invasion of Ukraine in the West. But fortunately for him, his overdue present was being wrapped up and tied with a bow. And to Kurmasheva, her colleagues, and onlookers in the press, this capture would be eerily reminiscent of events early in the year and a grim portent of the next sunrise in the east.
On October 18, the Russian government extended the detainment of Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist for the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, on charges of “failing to register as a foreign agent”.
Seven months earlier in March, Wall Street Journal writer Evan Gershkovich was also detained by the Russian government and charged with espionage. This is the first time since the Cold War era that an American journalist has been charged as such according to the WSJ. As of November, his imprisonment lasted eight months, and during this time, he celebrated his 32nd birthday in Lefortovo prison in Moscow. In October, Gershkovich made his third appeal to the Russian court which was denied. It is becoming more and more likely that Gershkovich will be convicted of espionage and complete his 20-year sentence. However American organizations have protested this imprisonment and members of Congress have been vocal, demanding Gershkovich’s release.
“It is clear that Evan is being held for leverage because he is an American,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “That should bother every single one of us, every single one of us.”
WaPo, Fair use, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/08/evan-gershkovich-russia-wsj-journalist-arrested-profile/
It is believed by RFE and many others that Kurmasheva is a political tool. This is likely because of the trade of American WNBA star Brittney Griner who was taken prisoner in Russia in February of 2022 for possession of cannabis and traded for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was imprisoned in the U.S. The two were swapped on December 8, 2022, to mixed response. Along with this trade was the trade of two American marines who were detained contemporaneously.
But this is par for the course since President Vladimir Putin was elected Prime Minister in 2000. A study done by RSF Reporters Without Borders captures the details of a transformation of Russia’s once relatively liberal media. Since Putin was elected as prime Minister of Russia at the turn of the century, 43 journalists have been killed, at least 25 in direct retaliation to reporting, according to RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists. One of the most significant deaths was that of Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed in her apartment on Oct. 7 after exposing the Kremlin in the Chechnyan wars in the Novaya Gazeta. RSF also lists 43 war crimes committed by the Russian government against media outlets on Ukrainian soil. This includes attacks on television towers and journalists directly. As of the completion of the study, 19 journalists are still imprisoned in the country; considering the arrests in the last year including those of Kurmasheva and Gershkovich, the number rises to 22 according to the Moscow Times.
Along with the recent arrest, 183 names, individuals, and organizations, have been labeled as “foreign agents”. This is a means to discredit reporting that does not support the Kremlin’s narrative by placing a negative title on their detractors. Laws such as this one make up a series of over 50 laws that have been signed under Putin’s watch, which are used to suppress the media. These laws have forced many media outlets to shut down entirely and allow the Russian government to review the press. Finally, included in the study is the blocking of more than 1.2 million websites in the last 11 years according to Roskomsvoboda, a Russian organization that opposes censorship. While some are no longer hidden, 517,000 remain banned including some 7,000 which were blocked at the beginning of the war.
It is clear from the statistics and the scenarios that have played out in the last two decades, especially following the invasion of Ukraine, that the situation surrounding the press and freedom of expression itself in Russia has become dire and many lives may be at risk for little more than speaking the truth. With the Russian government’s choice to resolve the release of Brittney Griner in consideration, we can conclude that Russia may use Kurmasheva and Gershkovich as political trading pieces to free important Russians imprisoned in U.S. jails. The RFE has been vocal with the same theory.
“It's my belief that they saw her as a potential hostage and then, at a given moment, they said yes she's useful to us, she's an asset,” RFE's acting president Jeffrey Gedmin said in an interview with Reuters. “She has some value and now we're going to pursue this path in setting up a situation where - under different circumstances - she and Evan, separately or together, could be part of a trade.”
Kurmasheva and Gershkovich are still being advocated for across the U.S. and the global media as a shiny, new iron curtain closes and conceals them on the stage of Russia’s renewed paranoia and oppressive censorship.
