Journalists in Trouble is a monthly report of incidents targeting Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalists and their work, and developments affecting press freedom across 23 countries. Subscribe for exclusive updates. 

UNITED STATES: Alsu Kurmasheva Receives President’s Award at National Press Club

On August 28, recently freed RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva accepted the National Press Club’s President’s Award at the 51st Annual National Press Club Journalism Awards Dinner.

The President’s Award recognizes a journalist “who is paying or has paid far too high a price for their work,” said National Press Club President Emily Wilkins, who presented the award to Alsu. Alsu was detained by Russian authorities in October 2023 and imprisoned for nearly ten months on false charges. She was freed and reunited with her husband and daughters on August 1, in a historic prisoner exchange.

“[Alsu] is an American citizen, she’s a wife, she’s a mother of two, and she was wrongfully detained while visiting her mother in Russia,” said Wilkins during the presentation of the award. “For ten months, Alsu was held in subpar conditions on bogus charges. Bogus because the only thing she had done is journalism, and journalism is not a crime.”

Following her acceptance of the award, Alsu addressed the journalists, press freedom activists, and other distinguished guests gathered at the Press Club. “Tonight, I am here to talk about the power of words. Words that describe atrocities, the human condition, share stories and emotions, and even sometimes provoke closed-minded leaders to prosecute those who share words of truth,” she said.

Alsu spoke about the power of hope and the knowledge that her family and the press freedom community were fighting for her release, which kept her going during unbearably cold nights in prison.

She acknowledged the bittersweetness of the night, as her RFE/RL colleagues remain behind bars in Belarus and Russia-occupied Crimea. “There are still journalists locked up across the world. I think constantly of my three RFE/RL colleagues,” she said, pledging to join the fight to ensure they are reunited with their own families. Watch a full recording of the event here. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 

• “It was a Saturday morning. I was told to pack my belongings in 15 minutes and be out…I was scared. I felt happy. I knew it was coming but still, I didn’t believe it was real until I hugged my children.” Alsu Kurmasheva appeared on CBS Mornings to talk about the day she was released from Russian prison.
• “My doors are finally open. After more than nine months behind closed doors in a cell without a window, I finally see colors. I see trees. I see plants. I see people. I talk to them. I hug them.” Alsu Kurmasheva speaks about readjusting to life after her wrongful detention on PBS NewsHour.
• “Little by little, it became clear they were not going to let her go.” Watch Voice of America’s new video feature documenting the fight to secure the release of Alsu Kurmasheva.  

BELARUS: Andrey Kuznechyk Marks 1,000 Days in Prison

August 21 marked 1,000 days of detention for RFE/RL journalist Andrey Kuznechyk. A father of two, Andrey was arrested in Minsk on November 25, 2021, while returning home from a bike ride.

In May 2022, Andrey was accused of “creating or participating in an extremist organization,” charges Andrey, RFE/RL, and human rights groups reject as politically motivated. Later that year, Andrey was sentenced to six years in prison following a closed-door, one-day trial.

“Belarus’ treatment of Andrey Kuznechyk is reprehensible,” said RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus. “Our journalists are not political activists and RFE/RL is certainly not an ‘extremist organization.’ Nor will we be silenced.”

Andrey is currently serving his sentence at a maximum-security prison in the northern city of Navapolatsk. RFE/RL calls for his immediate release.

TAKE ACTION: In her first TV appearance following her August 1 release, RFE/RL’s Alsu Kurmasheva emphasized the importance of writing to those who are wrongfully imprisoned abroad, saying the letters and drawings she was sent “kept her going.”

RFE/RL encourages supporters to write to Andrey and his RFE/RL colleague Ihar Losik, who is imprisoned in the same penal colony as Andrey. Postcards written in Belarusian or Russian may be mailed to Andrey and Ihar directly at: Penal colony No. 1. 211440, Navapolack, vulica Techničnaya 8, Belarus. Alternatively, submit your messages in English or Belarusian to the Solidarity Postcards Atelier, whose volunteers will send them to Andrey and Ihar on your behalf.

Supporters are also encouraged to send solidarity letters to Vladyslav Yesypenko, a journalist with RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, who is currently imprisoned in Russia-occupied Crimea. Learn how here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 

• “Today sickeningly marks the 1,000th day Andrey Kuznechyk has been wrongly detained in Belarus. Every moment he spends in this hard-labor camp is one too many.” Read U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Amanda Bennett’s comments in Voice of America’s report on Andrey’s 1,000 days of detention.
• “Families have been ripped apart, and it’s just disgraceful. It’s time for Belarus and Russia to release these three.” RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus appeared on CNN’s The Lead to raise awareness about RFE/RL’s journalists unjustly imprisoned abroad.
• In June, RFE/RL and Freedom House co-hosted a virtual discussion on the practice of incommunicado detention in Belarus. Watch a recording of the event here. 

TURKMENISTAN: Former RFE/RL correspondent Hudaiberdy Allashov dies

Following a long illness that supporters say was the result of political persecution, jail time, and torture, former RFE/RL correspondent Hudaiberdy Allashov died on August 13 in his home in the northern Turkmen city of Koneurgench at the age of 35.

Hudaiberdy worked for RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service for three months in 2016, reporting on forced labor practices in Turkmenistan, food shortages, and governmental mismanagement. His reporting drew the ire of Turkmen authorities, who repeatedly harassed, interrogated, arrested, and tortured him and his family members, once threatening not to leave him alone “until they drove him to his grave.”

Turkmenistan has one of the lowest press freedom rankings in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which expressed outrage at the treatment of journalists in the country. “Allashov should never have lived through this nightmare,” said RSF’s Jeanne Cavelier. 

Thank you for reading our newsletter and for standing with persecuted journalists.

If you are interested in collaborating to amplify the stories of our imprisoned journalists, you can reach us by emailing advocacy@rferl.org.