The president of Radio Free Europe said journalist Alsu Kurmasheva will be released, amid reports of a massive prisoner swap between Russia and the West.
Kurmasheva, a journalist for Radio Free Europe in Prague, was sentenced by a Russian court in July to six and a half years in prison.
We welcome the news of her immediate release and are grateful to the US Government and all those who worked tirelessly to end her unfair treatment by Russia,” said Radio Free Europe President Stephen Capus.
“Alsuja was targeted because she is an American journalist who was simply trying to help her family members inside Russia. She did nothing wrong and certainly did not deserve the unfair treatment and forced separation from her loved ones and colleagues,” he added.
Russia, the United States and other countries on August 1 began a massive prisoner exchange, in what is expected to be the largest exchange of its kind since the end of the Cold War.
Bloomberg, Sky News, CNN, and other Western media outlets, citing sources, reported that the exchange was taking place on August 1, as the whereabouts of several high-profile political prisoners held in Russia were unknown, fueling speculation that they were getting ready for exchange.
It is not yet clear which of the prisoners was involved in the exchange.
The news comes as nine Russian activists and one American citizen were suddenly moved from Russian prisons in recent days, and other Russians held in US prisons have disappeared from prison databases, fueling speculation that a major swap of prisoners involving Russia, the United States and several other European countries, may be underway.
No government official in Washington, Moscow or elsewhere has commented on the possibility of a swap; however, analysts on August 1 pointed to signs that what could be the largest of its kind since the Cold War.
“I still have no comment on this topic,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on August 1 when asked by reporters about it.
Defense lawyers for several high-profile people held in Russian prisons have said their clients’ whereabouts were unknown, a situation that often arises when prisoners are moved. Among them are opposition activists, including Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin and others.
Olga Karlova, a lawyer for former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, said on July 31 that she does not know where her client is and that authorities at the prison in the Mordovia region where he is being held have ignored requests to confirm whether he is in prison.
Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage that he and Washington deny, is one of more than 10 American citizens currently being held in Russian prisons, accused or convicted of charges ranging from drug possession and theft to treason and espionage.
No government official in Washington, Moscow or elsewhere has commented on the possibility of a swap; however, analysts on August 1 pointed to signs that what could be the largest of its kind since the Cold War.
“I still have no comment on this topic,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on August 1 when asked by reporters about it.
Defense lawyers for several high-profile people held in Russian prisons have said their clients’ whereabouts were unknown, a situation that often arises when prisoners are moved. Among them are opposition activists, including Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin and others.
Olga Karlova, a lawyer for former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, said on July 31 that she does not know where her client is and that authorities at the prison in the Mordovia region where he is being held have ignored requests to confirm whether he is in prison.
Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage that he and Washington deny, is one of more than 10 American citizens currently being held in Russian prisons, accused or convicted of charges ranging from drug possession and theft to treason and espionage.
In many cases, the allegations against the Americans, which include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe editor Alsu Kurmasheva, have been labeled by their employers or the US government as fabricated or politically motivated.
Some of the sentences exceed what legal experts say would be normal.
“We hope that all unjustly held political prisoners, especially journalists like Alsu and Evan, will return to their loved ones. Journalism is not a crime”, said earlier on August 1, the president of REL, Stephen Capus.
“To the three other Radio Free Europe journalists unjustly behind bars – two in Belarus and one in Russian-controlled Crimea – we say you are not forgotten. Radio Free Europe will do everything in its power to secure your release and reunite you with your families,” he added.
Just hours after Whelan’s disappearance was discovered, the defense lawyer for Kara-Murzai, a dual Russian-British citizen, said he had not been allowed into the Omsk prison to see his client, who last year was sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason and other charges.
On August 1, a group of Russian lawyers and human rights defenders known as Pervy Otdel posted a message on Telegram pointing to the flight track of an Antonov plane that had previously been involved in other prisoner exchanges.
“An An-148 plane, which was allegedly used for the previous exchange of political prisoners, took off from Kaliningrad to Moscow on August 1,” said Pervy Otdel.
The plane, with the number RA-61727, then left for Moscow, the group said, which “may indicate that the exchange of political prisoners took place at the border with Poland”.
Data from flight-tracking site Flightradar24 confirmed the plane’s movements, while Russian media, Agenstvo, reported that several special Russian government planes have been traveling to and from regions where dissidents are held in recent days.
Meanwhile, four Russians indicted or imprisoned in the United States have disappeared from a prisoner database operated by the US Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Among those four prisoners is Vladislav Klyushin, a Kremlin-linked IT entrepreneur serving a multi-year sentence on insider trading charges, and Aleksandr Vinnik, who recently pleaded guilty to money laundering charges and has been free pending sentencing.
The largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War took place in 2010 and involved a total of 14 people.
In that exchange, the United States freed 10 Russians, including Anna Chapman.
Sergei Skripal, a Russian military intelligence officer convicted of spying for Britain, was among four people released by Moscow./REL/
