Russian court extends detention of US journalist Alsu Kurmasheva

PHOTO CAPTION: Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Alsu Kurmasheva, who is in custody after she was accused of violating Russia's law on foreign agents, attends a court hearing in Kazan, Russia, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Alexey Nasyrov

KAZAN, Russia (Reuters) -A Russian court on Thursday extended the pre-trial detention of Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist who is accused of violating a law on "foreign agents" and may face additional charges.

Kurmasheva's custody was extended by two months to April 5. Her employer, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), calls her imprisonment unjust and politically motivated and said it was "outraged" by the latest development.

"Russian authorities are conducting a deplorable criminal campaign against the wrongfully detained Alsu Kurmasheva," RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said.

The case against Kurmasheva, who is married with two children, was brought after she was accused of failing to register her U.S. passport when she travelled to Russia last May to visit her elderly mother. She risks up to five years in prison if convicted.

RFE/RL is funded by the U.S. Congress and designated by Russia as a foreign agent, meaning it gets overseas funding for activity deemed to be political.

In December, a state-affiliated media outlet said Russian investigators had opened a new case against Kurmasheva, accusing her of spreading false information about the Russian army - an offence which carries a sentence of up to 15 years.

Kurmasheva's husband Pavel Butorin, who also works for RFE/RL, said it related to a book that she had edited. The book is entitled "Saying No to War. 40 Stories of Russians Who Oppose the Russian Invasion of Ukraine".

Kurmasheva's lawyer Rim Sabirov told reporters on Thursday that the new case was still under preliminary investigation. It has yet to come before the Kazan court.

Kurmasheva is the second U.S. journalist to be arrested and charged in Russia since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained last March and is awaiting trial on spying charges which he, his paper and the U.S. government all strongly deny.

Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, an American convicted of spying in 2020 and jailed in Russia for 16 years, have both been designated by the State Department as "wrongfully detained", meaning that Washington considers the charges against them as bogus and is committed to work for their release.

Kurmasheva's employer and supporters have been lobbying the U.S. government, so far without success, to grant her the same status.

(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Ros Russell)