Washington D.C. – CPJ, October 18, 2024
CPJ is honored to present its 2024 International Press Freedom Award to U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, is a journalist and editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). She first joined the outlet in 1998 as a radio program moderator.
Throughout her career, Kurmasheva has covered cultural and human rights issues affecting ethnic minority communities in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in the Volga-Ural region of Russia. In addition, she has also reported extensively on gender issues, leading reporting projects on domestic violence, and women’s human rights.
In October 2023, Kurmasheva was detained in Russia on charges of failing to register as a “foreign agent.” In December 2023, she was also charged with disseminating “false” information about the Russian military stemming from her alleged involvement in the distribution of a book based on stories from residents in Russia’s southwestern Volga region who oppose the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
