Family of another American journalist held in Russia calls on Biden administration to do more to help

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — When Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was blocked from leaving Russia last June, her family never expected that she would still be in Russian detention more than a year later.

“We were so confident that she would get back to us that I bought Taylor Swift tickets … in June or July … for August 2024,” her husband, Pavel Butorin, told CNN. “Little did we know that she would be arrested and taken away from us.”

Kurmasheva, a longtime journalist for US-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), had gone back to Russia to see her mother in May 2023. According to Butorin, when she attempted to leave Russia and return home to Prague in early June, she was briefly detained at the airport and her passports were taken. She was fined and placed under de facto — and then formal — house arrest for months.

Then, in October 2023, while awaiting the return of her passports, Kurmasheva was arrested and charged by the Russian authorities, who claimed she was a foreign agent. They opened up another case against her in December, claiming that she had disseminated “fake news” about the Russian Army. Her family and her employer have denied these charges.

Now, her family wants the US government to declare her wrongfully detained and treat her case with similar gravity to that of the other American journalist detained in Russia: Evan Gershkovich. A Russian court said Friday that Gershkovich, who has been declared wrongfully detained, was guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison. The conviction and trial against Gershkovich were decried as a sham.

Butorin, who spoke to CNN prior to Gershkovich’s verdict, also denounced the Wall Street Journal reporter’s detention and called for his immediate release. He expressed gratitude to the publication for raising the profile of Kurmasheva’s case.

However, he noted that there has been a “double standard” from the US in its wrongful detention designations. Gershkovich was given the designation, which empowers the government to explore avenues such as a prisoner swap, within two weeks of his arrest. Butorin said he has not heard a good answer from the government about why his wife has not also been given a designation, and instead regularly hears “a set of talking points.”

“It was absolutely the right thing to do to designate Evan as wrongfully detained. He is wrongfully detained. I consider Alsu to be wrongfully detained,” he said.

“Obviously, she was detained and now remains in detention because of her work for an American media organization and her American citizenship, and they made it clear to her in no uncertain terms back in October that this was the reason why she was being detained,” Butorin said.

“Every time a court considered extending her pre-trial detention, her American citizenship was cited and was the primary reason for not releasing her under house arrest, because they consider her a flight risk.”

On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller urged Kurmasheva’s “swift release,” but said he did not have “any new information to provide about a wrongful detention determination.”

Another State Department spokesperson said they “are closely following the case of Alsu Kurmasheva, a dedicated journalist who is being targeted by Russian authorities for her uncompromising commitment to speaking the truth and her principled reporting.”

US officials have never been granted access to see Kurmasheva, who is jailed in Kazan, a city in the Tatarstan region in southwest Russia. In late May, her pretrial detention was once again extended until early August.

The family has also not been allowed phone calls to Kurmasheva. She has been able to see her mother a few times, Butorin said. He said that video of her in court shows that her imprisonment has taken a toll on her health.

The ongoing separation has been incredibly hard for the family. Butorin and Kurmasheva have two daughters — Bibi, who just turned 16, and Miriam, who is 12. They say it has been “really challenging” being away from her.

“We need our mom,” Bibi told CNN. “These years of our lives are going by so quickly. It’s crazy to know how much we’ve grown up since she’s been away.”

Butorin, Bibi, and Miriam described Kurmasheva as a kind and selfless person who was deeply involved in her community.

“She really liked to spend time with us. She would always pick us up from school with snacks and we would play music in the car,” like Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, Bibi said.

“It’s hurtful that she’s perceived as a criminal because that’s not who she is at all,” she said.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.