MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Tuesday ordered a detained Russian-American journalist to remain in jail ahead of trial on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent, rather than be released to house arrest, state news agency Tass reported.
Kurmasheva and her lawyer on Tuesday asked for her release to house arrest, but the court in the Tatarstan capital of Kazan rejected the appeal.
She is the second U.S. journalist detained in Russia this year, after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges in March.
Airport officials confiscated her U.S. and Russian passports and she was fined for failing to register her U.S. passport.
RFE/RL was told by Russian authorities in 2017 to register as a foreign agent, but it has challenged Moscow’s use of foreign agent laws in the European Court of Human Rights.
Persons:
Alsu, Kurmasheva, Evan Gershkovich, Gershkovich
Organizations:
MOSCOW, U.S ., Free, Wall Street, Kazan International Airport, RFE, of Human Rights
Locations:
Russian, American, Free Europe, Tatarstan, Kazan, Russia, Prague