US-Russian journalist convicted in a rapid, secret trial, gets 6 1/2 years in prison, court says

Associated Press

A Russian court says it has convicted Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, of spreading false information about the Russian military and sentenced her to 6½ years in prison following a secret trial. Court records and officials said Monday the conviction came Friday in the city of Kazan after a two-day trial. That’s the same day a court in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison in a case that the U.S. called politically motivated. Kurmasheva’s case was classified as secret. RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus called the trial and conviction of Kurmasheva “a mockery of justice.”