Russian court extends pre-trial detention of U.S. journalist until Feb. 5

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, listens to a lawyer while standing inside an enclosure for defendants as she attends a court hearing in Kazan, Russia, December 1, 2023. REUTERS/Alexey Nasyrov

KAZAN, Russia (Reuters) - A Russia court extended the detention of Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva on Friday as she awaits trial for failing to register as a "foreign agent".

The court in the city of Kazan prolonged her detention until

Feb. 5. No date has been set for the trial.

Kurmasheva is a Prague-based journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which is funded by the U.S. Congress and designated by Russia as a foreign agent, meaning it gets foreign funding for activity deemed to be political.

In a statement, RFE/RL acting president Jeffrey Gedmin said: "Alsu has spent 45 days behind bars in Russia and, today, her unjust, politically motivated detention has been extended.

"We call on Russian authorities to immediately grant Alsu consular access, which is her right as a U.S. citizen. Alsu must be released and reunited with her family."

Kurmasheva holds both U.S. and Russian passports, and entered Russia on May 20 to deal with a family emergency, RFE/RL said. As she awaited her return flight on June 2, she was detained and her passports were confiscated.

According to court documents, Kurmasheva was fined 10,000 roubles ($103) on Oct. 11 for failing to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities. She was charged a week later with failure to register as a foreign agent, an offence that carries up to five years in prison.

The term "foreign agent", which has Cold War connotations of espionage, has been applied in Russia to organisations, journalists, rights activists and even entertainers, and brings with it close government scrutiny and a mountain of red tape.

Kurmasheva is the second U.S. journalist detained in Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine.

In March 2023, the FSB security service arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges that carry a prison term of up to 20 years. Gershkovich, his newspaper and U.S. President Joe Biden have all denied he is a spy, and the U.S. ambassador has accused Moscow of conducting "hostage diplomacy".

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)