Volkswacht Bodensee - Russia jails US-Russian journalist Kurmasheva for over 6 years

Kurmasheva, 47 was convicted on Friday in a secret trial that was not announced in advance -- the same day a separate Russian court sentenced US journalist Evan Gershkovich for 16 years on espionage charges.

Both journalists have rejected the charges as baseless.

Kurmasheva, an editor with the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) outlet in Prague, was arrested last year while travelling to Russia to see her sick mother.

She had her passports confiscated for not declaring her dual citizenship, was then arrested for not registering as a "foreign agent", and while in pre-trial detention was hit with the more serious "false information" charge.

Details of Kurmasheva's conviction were only released Monday, with her employer and family kept in the dark.

"On Friday, Alsu Kurmasheva was sentenced. Six years, six months," Natalya Loseva, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court of Tatarstan, told AFP.

The court's website states only that she had been found guilty in a hearing on Friday, with no details of the sentence.

"This secret trial and conviction make a mockery of justice," RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus told AFP in an emailed statement.

"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."

- 'No evidence' -

Russia often holds trials behind closed doors, but issuing a verdict and sentencing in such a manner is unusual.

On Friday, the day Kurmasheva was sentenced, her husband had slammed the "secrecy" over the proceedings.

"Her family is in the dark about a trial date or any actual 'evidence' of Alsu's 'guilt,'", Pavel Butorin, who also works at RFE/RL, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"They have produced no public evidence that her work as an American journalist ever contained falsehoods or inaccuracies. No matter what an unjust Russian court may find Alsu guilty of, we know that she is not a criminal," he added.

Russia has passed strict military censorship laws that outlaw criticism of its military offensive on Ukraine, launched in February 2022.

It has escalated a decade-long crackdown on independent journalists and civil society amid the offensive.

Hundreds have been prosecuted for spreading "false information" -- which the Kremlin defines as anything not approved by the government -- or "discrediting" the armed forces.

Kurmasheva edited a 2022 book titled "Saying No to War", which is a collection of interviews and stories from Russians opposed to the military campaign against Ukraine, ordered by President Vladimir Putin.

The White House accuses Russia of arresting Western citizens in acts of "hostage-taking", hoping to trade them to secure the release of Russians jailed abroad.

Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich was also convicted Friday in a fast-track trial after spending more than a year in prison.

The speed of the process raised hopes among allies that Washington and Moscow could be close to agreeing a prisoner exchange, as the Kremlin has previously said it will only enter such a deal after a trial.

Washington and Moscow have both said negotiations for Gershkovich are ongoing.

The fate of Kurmasheva, as a dual US-Russian citizen, has been less clear, though the fact she was convicted on the same day could raise hopes.

Unlike Gershkovich and another US citizen, former marine Paul Whelan, the White House had not designated her "wrongfully detained" -- a label that means the US considers a person essentially taken hostage by a state -- though it has strongly condemned her arrest.

L.Maurer--VB