Russian American journalist Kurmasheva is imprisoned in Moscow for more than six years

Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which receives funding from the United States, has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison by a Russian court for disseminating false information about the Russian army, the court announced on Monday.

After two days of court proceedings, Kurmasheva was condemned on Friday, according to a spokesman for the court in the southern city of Kazan. When Reuters asked her attorney if she would file an appeal, her attorney did not respond right away, and the American embassy did not respond right away to a request for comment.

On Friday, a different Yekaterinburg court also sentenced Wall Street Journal writer Evan Gershkovich, a citizen of the United States, to 16 years in prison for espionage after a three-day closed-door trial. The United States and his newspaper have referred to the trial as a farce, and Washington claims it is making efforts to gain his release.

Stephen Capus, President and CEO of RFE/RL, referred to Kurmasheva’s trial and verdict as “a mockery of justice”.

In a statement, Capus stated, “The only just outcome is for Alsu to be immediately released from prison by her Russian captors.” “It’s beyond time for this American citizen, our dear colleague, to be reunited with her loving family.”

Kurmasheva, 47, is a resident of Prague and has been detained since her arrest on October 18 while she was visiting relatives in Tatarstan, the region of Russia that is her birth. Her passports were seized the first time she was briefly held earlier in the year while attempting to flee Russia.

At first, a judge penalized her for neglecting to disclose that she was in possession of a U.S. passport, which was required by Russian law. She entered a not guilty plea to the charge of failing to register as a “foreign agent” after it was brought against her a week later.

Pavel Butorin, her spouse and fellow RFE/RL employee, posted on X, saying, “My daughters and I know Alsu has done nothing wrong.” And everyone else is aware of it. Her return is necessary.”

According to Butorin, her detention was connected to a book she edited called “Saying No to War.” 40 Russians’ Testimonials Against Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine.

At least six Americans, including Gershkovich and Kurmasheva, have been found guilty and imprisoned in Russia amid the worst collapse of relations between Moscow and the West since the end of the Cold War.

The U.S. Congress provides funding for RFE/RL, which has been broadcasting news about the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe since the end of the Cold War.

It is practically prohibited inside Russia due to Russia’s designations of it as a “foreign agent” and a “undesirable” organization, both of which have negative Cold War connotations.

Moscow has enforced lengthy prison sentences on anybody found guilty of criticizing the war, under a legislation that forbids disseminating misleading information about the military, since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In order to create more diplomatic channels for negotiating Kurmasheva’s release, Butorin has petitioned the US government to declare that, in light of Washington’s position about Gershkovich, she was illegally held. There hasn’t been a comparable public effort in Washington demanding her release.