Journalist's husband urges US State Dept to recognise her as wrongfully detained in Russia

FILE PHOTO: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, accused of violating Russia's law on foreign agents, talks to her lawyer Edgar Matevosyan as they attend a court hearing in Kazan, Russia October 23, 2023. REUTERS/Alexey Nasyrov/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - The husband of a Russian-American journalist being held in a Russian prison on suspicion of violating Moscow’s law on “foreign agents” urged the U.S. government on Tuesday to designate her as "wrongfully detained".

Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was charged last month with failing to register as a foreign agent when she travelled to Russia in May to visit her elderly and ailing mother. She is awaiting trial and faces a sentence of up to five years.