According to the employer of a US journalist, a Russian court has accused the journalist of failing to register as a "foreign agent" and ordered her to be detained before trial until at least next Monday, which could further exacerbate tensions between Washington and Moscow.
Alsu Kurmasheva's employer stated that Kurmasheva is the editor of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, headquartered in Prague, and holds dual US and Russian citizenship.
The official Russian news agency TASS stated that investigators have demanded that Kurmasheva be detained by the Kazan Sovitsky Regional Court in southwestern Russia on the grounds of "suspected evasion of legal requirements for foreign agents in Russia".
Kurmasheva's lawyer Edgar Matevosyan could not be reached for comment on Friday. TASS reported that Matevosyan told reporters after the trial that his client denied the charges against her.
It is currently uncertain whether Kurmasheva or her lawyer has pleaded guilty in court on Friday.