A court has convicted Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, of spreading false information about the Russian army and sentenced her to 6½ years in prison after a secret trial, court records and officials said Monday.
Kurmasheva’s family, her employer and the US government have rejected the charges against her and have called for her release.
The conviction in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s central region of Tatarstan, came on Friday, 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 US called politically motivated.
Kurmasheva, a 47-year-old editor for RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir language service, was convicted of “spreading false information” about the military after a trial that lasted just two days, according to the website of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan. Court spokesperson Natalya Loseva confirmed Kurmasheva’s conviction and revealed the sentence to The Associated Press by phone in the case classified as secret.
Kurmasheva was ordered to serve the sentence in a medium-security penal colony, Loseva said.
“My daughters and I know Alsu has done nothing wrong. And the world knows it too. We need her home,” Kurmasheva’s husband, Pavel Butorin, said in a post Monday on X.
He had said last year the charges stemmed from a book the Tatar-Bashkir service released in 2022 called “No to War” — “a collection of short stories of Russians who don’t want their country to be at war with Ukraine.” Butorin had said the book doesn’t contain any “false information.”
Matthew Miller, the US State Department spokesman, said Kurmasheva is being “targeted by Russian authorities for her uncompromising commitment to speaking the truth and her principled reporting.”
“We continue to make very clear that she should be released,” Miller added.
Asked about the case, RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus denounced the trial and conviction of Kurmasheva as “a mockery of justice.” “The only just outcome is for Alsu to be immediately released from prison by her Russian captors,” he said in a statement to the AP.
“It’s beyond time for this American citizen, our dear colleague, to be reunited with her loving family,” Capus said.
Kurmasheva, who holds US and Russian citizenship and lives in Prague with her husband and two daughters, was taken into custody in October 2023 and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent while collecting information about the Russian military.
Later, she was also charged with spreading “false information” about the Russian military under legislation that effectively criminalized any public expression about the war in Ukraine that deviates from the Kremlin line. The legislation was adopted in March 2022, just days after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine, and has since been used to target Kremlin critics at home and abroad, implicating scores of people in criminal cases and sending dozens to prison.
Kurmasheva was initially stopped in June 2023 at Kazan International Airport after traveling to Russia the previous month to visit her ailing elderly mother. Officials confiscated her US and Russian passports and fined her for failing to register her US passport. She was waiting for her passports to be returned when she was arrested on new charges in October that year. RFE/RL has repeatedly called for her release.
RFE/RL was told by Russian authorities in 2017 to register as a foreign agent, but it has challenged Moscow’s use of foreign agent laws in the European Court of Human Rights. The organization has been fined millions of dollars by Russia.
The organization Reporters Without Borders said Kurmasheva’s conviction “illustrates the unprecedented level of despotism permeating a Russian judiciary that takes orders from the Kremlin.”
It called for Kurmasheva’s immediate release and said the purpose of the sentence was to dissuade journalists from traveling to Russia and put pressure on the United States.
In February, RFE/RL was outlawed in Russia as an undesirable organization. Its Tatar-Bashkir service is the only major international news provider reporting in those languages, in addition to Russian, to audiences in the multi-ethnic, Muslim-majority Volga-Urals region.
The swift and secretive trials of Kurmasheva and Gershkovich in Russia’s highly politicized legal system raised hopes for a possible prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington. Russia has previously signaled a possible exchange involving Gershkovich, but said a verdict in his case must come first.
Arrests of Americans are increasingly common in Russia, with nine US citizens known to be detained there as tensions between the two countries have escalated over fighting in Ukraine.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the US
He has been behind bars since his arrest, time that will be counted as part of his sentence. Most of that was in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison — a czarist-era lockup used during Josef Stalin’s purges, when executions were carried out in its basement. He was transferred to Yekaterinburg for the trial.
Gershkovich was the first US journalist arrested on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, at the height of the Cold War. Foreign journalists in Russia were shocked by Gershkovich’s arrest, even though the country has enacted increasingly repressive laws on freedom of speech after sending troops into Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden said after his conviction that Gershkovich “was targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American.”
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Moscow last week of treating “human beings as bargaining chips.” She singled out Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan, 53, a corporate security director from Michigan, who is serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted on spying charges that he and the US denied.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that when it comes to Gershkovich, Whelan and other Americans wrongfully detained in Russia and elsewhere, the US is working on the cases “quite literally every day.”
Sam Greene of the Center for European Policy Analysis said the conviction and sentencing of Kurmasheva and Gershkovich on the same day “suggests — but does not prove — that the Kremlin is preparing a deal. More likely, they are preparing to offer up a negotiating table that Washington will find it difficult to ignore.”
In a series of posts on X, Greene stressed that “the availability of a negotiating table shouldn’t be confused with the availability of a deal,” and that Moscow has no interest in releasing its prisoners — but it is likely to “seek the highest possible price for its bargaining chips, and to seek additional concessions along the way just to keep the talks going.”
Washington “should obviously do what it can” to get Gershkovich, Kurmasheva, imprisoned opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza and other political prisoners out, he said, adding: “But if Moscow demands what it really wants — the abandonment of Ukraine — what then?”
US-Russian journalist convicted in a rapid, secret trial, gets 6 1/2 years in prison, court says
https://arab.news/63ebf
US-Russian journalist convicted in a rapid, secret trial, gets 6 1/2 years in prison, court says
- The swift and secretive trials of Kurmasheva and Gershkovich in Russia’s highly politicized legal system raised hopes for a possible prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington
TikTok says it’s in the process of restoring service to US users
- TikTok thanks Donald Trump, who says he plans to give TikTok’s China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer
- Popular video-sharing platform went dark in US in response to new law
NEW YORK: TikTok says it’s “in the process” of restoring service to users in the United States after the popular video-sharing platform went dark in response to a new law.
The company that runs TikTok said in a post on X on Sunday that tech companies that faced fines if they didn’t remove TikTok’s app from the digital stores and other service providers had agreed to help.
TikTok thanked President-elect Donald Trump, who on Sunday said he planned to sign an executive order after his inauguration on Monday to give TikTok’s China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer before the popular video-sharing platform is subject to a permanent USban.
It was not immediately clear whether TikTok was working as it did before the company instituted a blackout late Saturday. Some users reported that the app was working, and TikTok’s website appeared to be functioning for at least some users. However, the app remained unavailable for download on Apple’s app store.
Google and Apple removed the app from their digital stores to comply with a federal law that required them to do so if TikTok parent company ByteDance didn’t sell its US operation by Sunday. The law, which passed with wide bipartisan support in April, allowed for steep fines for non-compliance.
TikTok said Trump’s promise of an executive order had provided “the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.”
US Navy veteran evacuating Afghans wins $5m in CNN defamation suit
- The settlement will avert a second phase of the trial that would have determined any punitive damages
WASHINGTON: CNN reached a settlement on Friday with a US Navy veteran who helped evacuate people from Afghanistan after the US military withdrew from the country in 2021, a judge said on Friday, hours after a jury found the TV news outlet liable for defaming him.
The six-person jury decided CNN had to pay damages totaling $5 million. The settlement will avert a second phase of the trial that would have determined any punitive damages. The verdict followed a two-week trial in Panama City, Florida, state court.
Circuit Judge William Henry did not provide details of the deal in announcing the settlement in open court.
Plaintiff Zachary Young sued CNN in 2022, accusing the Warner Bros Discovery unit of destroying his reputation in a segment on “The Lead with Jake Tapper” by branding him as a profiteer who exploited desperate Afghans by charging exorbitant fees.
CNN stood by its story and denied defaming Young, though the network said in March 2022 that it regretted using the term “black market” to describe Young’s work.
A CNN representative said the network remains proud of its journalists but “will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case.” The representative declined to offer details of the deal.
Young’s lawyer Vel Freedman said in a statement that he was very pleased to clear Young’s name, obtain punitive damages and settle the case.
Young, wearing a dark suit and blue tie, smiled as Henry thanked the lawyers for their work before dismissing them.
The case stems from Young’s work as a security consultant helping corporations and charities extract people from Afghanistan after the Taliban swiftly took back control following the chaotic US withdrawal.
In a segment on The Lead, CNN said “desperate Afghans” trying to escape the country were being “exploited” with “exorbitant” and “impossible” fees charged for evacuations.
The segment turned to focus on Young, displaying his name and photo next to a chyron saying evacuees faced a perilous “black market.”
“The sum and substance of the segment states and implies that Young marketed evacuations directly to Afghan citizens, that he exploited Afghan citizens, and that he sold them illegal goods/services on a black market,” Young said in his lawsuit.
TikTok ban: Last-minute reprieve or rule of law?
- As the Jan. 19 deadline looms for TikTok’s potential ban in the US, rumors are rife speculating on the future of the video app
DUBAI/LONDON: With just days left until the official ban of Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok is set to take effect in the US, speculation is mounting over what happens next — and whether there could still be a last-minute twist.
The short answer: No one knows for certain.
In March 2024, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that, if signed into law, would force ByteDance, the China-based owner of TikTok, to sell the video-sharing app. The Senate passed the bill, and President Joe Biden signed it, ordering ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American company or face a ban in the US by Jan. 19.
At the time, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said that such a law “will take billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses” and put more than 30,000 American jobs at risk.
Neither he nor the company were willing to give up without a fight. In May 2024, TikTok and ByteDance sued the US federal government challenging the law, alleging that it was unconstitutional.
In December, a federal appeals court ruled the TikTok law was constitutional. A month later, on Jan. 10, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a pivotal case brought by TikTok and its users challenging the law on the basis of US users’ First Amendment rights.
On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban after days of speculation, during which it refrained from making public comments on the case, leaving a sliver of hope for a last-minute reprieve. With the decision now confirmed, TikTok’s options have significantly narrowed.
In its ruling, the court stated: “We conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights. The judgment of the United States court of appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is affirmed.”
This decision means TikTok will no longer be available for download from app stores starting Jan. 19.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the ruling reads.
The outcome seemed increasingly likely during the hearings, with Justice Elena Kagan saying: “The law is only targeted at this foreign corporation that doesn't have First Amendment rights. Whatever effect it has, it has.”
Justice Amy Coney Barrett added: “The law doesn’t say TikTok has to shut down. It says ByteDance has to divest.”
Amid the legal back and forth, TikTok’s knight in shining armor might just be President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to take office on Jan. 20 — one day after the purported ban.
Despite trying to ban the app during his first term over national security concerns, he joined TikTok during his 2024 presidential campaign, during which he pledged to “save TikTok.” He also lauded the platform for helping him win more youth votes.
When asked about his policies on social media regulation, particularly the impending ban of TikTok, Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition Team spokeswoman, told Arab News: “The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.”
Just last month, Trump urged the Supreme Court to pause the ban.
The brief submitted to the court says Trump “alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Government.”
Moreover, earlier this week, reports emerged that TikTok CEO Chew has been invited to Trump’s inauguration and offered a “position of honor,” suggesting a willingness to engage with the company.
And Mike Waltz, Trump’s incoming national security adviser, told FOX News that the new administration would “find a way to preserve (TikTok) but protect people’s data.”
Any intervention by Trump, however, would likely take the form of an executive order temporarily pausing the ban, contingent on TikTok demonstrating progress toward separating from ByteDance. Even then, such an order could face legal challenges, and the law only allows a limited delay of 60 to 90 days to give extra time for negotiations.
Outgoing President Biden, who will leave office on Jan. 19, will not enforce a ban on TikTok, a US official said Thursday, leaving its fate in the hands of Trump.
Rumors of a potential sale have intensified in recent days including speculation of interest from high-profile buyers, such as Elon Musk, but ByteDance dismissed these reports as “pure fiction.”
The company has consistently rejected the possibility of a sale, saying it “is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally.”
As the Jan. 19 deadline approaches, the situation remains shrouded in uncertainty, even after Friday’s ruling.
For now, TikTok’s chances of remaining accessible in the US appear practically null, as the case is steeped in complex issues of politics, national security, economic interests, and digital rights.
The law underpinning the ban targets a wide network of US-based partners that facilitate TikTok’s operations, effectively making common workarounds, such as using virtual private networks or changing a phone’s regional settings, either ineffective or impractical, according to experts.
At best, users might gain limited access to a web-based version of the app, which lacks many of its features. However, even that option may not function reliably, experts warned.
The most likely enforcement mechanism would involve compelling app stores like Google Play and Apple’s App Store to remove TikTok from their platforms in the US. Lawmakers have already instructed tech companies to prepare for this scenario if the ban is enacted.
If the app is banned, TikTok reportedly plans to display a pop-up message for users attempting to access the platform, directing them to a website with information about the ban, according to a Reuters report citing sources close to the matter.
For now, TikTok’s operations continue as usual, with the company having reassured employees that their jobs are secure regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision. However, morale within the company is said to be low, despite these reassurances.
What is certain is that TikTok’s leadership has been “planning for various scenarios.” With Friday’s decision now final and the Jan. 19 ban imminent, the company’s next steps will likely take one of two paths: intervention by Trump or divestment to a non-Chinese entity.
Meanwhile, users and critics alike wait in anticipation, seeking clarity on the far-reaching consequences of the ban — potentially rippling as far as the Middle East — and whether any last-minute developments might offer a reprieve for the platform and its millions of US users.
London’s pro-Palestine demo set for standoff as police-approved route rejected
- Organizers say they will assemble at Whitehall on Saturday to protest the police ban on their original demonstration route
- Police ban on the original gathering at the BBC headquarters, citing a potential threat to the Jewish community, has sparked backlash
LONDON: Tensions are rising ahead of a planned pro-Palestine demonstration in London after the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and its coalition partners vowed to reject the Metropolitan Police’s proposed new route for the march.
Organizers have announced they will gather at Whitehall on Saturday to protest the police decision instead.
PSC, alongside Stop the War, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Muslim Association of Britain, Friends of Al-Aqsa, and the Palestine Forum in Britain, made the announcement on Friday following protracted negotiations with police.
The Met had last week banned the original march, which was scheduled to start at the BBC’s headquarters, citing its proximity to a synagogue and potential security concerns.
“Despite intensive efforts to reach a compromise with the Met, it has so far refused to accept or offer a reasonable solution,” said the coalition in a statement. “However, we will assemble on Whitehall on Saturday at noon. We reiterate our call on the police to lift their repressive conditions and allow us to march. If they continue to refuse to do so and prevent us from marching, we will be rallying in Whitehall to protest.”
The controversy erupted after the police revoked the pre-approved march route, which had been announced in November, over claims it could pose a threat to the Jewish community.
Organizers described the decision as “discriminatory” and accused the authorities of bowing to political pressure from pro-Israeli groups.
“The Met has seemingly accepted and acted upon the arguments of pro-Israel groups that seek to delegitimise our protest as antisemitic or a threat to Jewish people,” said PSC Director Ben Jamal. “This is a gross distortion of the truth. There is not a single instance of our marches posing any threat to synagogues or Jewish individuals. Indeed, we count a large, self-organised Jewish bloc as some of our most indefatigable supporters.”
Organizers also said they offered to reroute the march to avoid clashing with Shabbat services at the synagogue, but claimed the police refused their proposals.
“Over the past week the Met Police have imposed a series of repressive conditions to prevent us marching and have even attempted to impose a route that the Board of Deputies of British Jews announced they had suggested to the police. This has been firmly rejected by the Palestine Coalition — it is an affront that pro-Israel groups can attempt to decide where we can or cannot march,” read the group’s statement.
On Friday, the coalition said that while they plan to defy the ban, they would gather at Whitehall instead of the BBC’s Portland Place headquarters. They also claimed the police had backed away from plans to arrest protesters assembling outside Russell Square, which the Met had suggested as a designated protest zone.
The police’s decision has drawn widespread criticism, with several cultural figures and members of the Jewish community urging the authorities to reverse the ban.
“The Met’s approach has been confrontational, heavy-handed and intransigent. Their use of powers under the Public Order Act has been based on flimsy grounds and arbitrarily applied, which erodes the right of peaceful protest that is fundamental in a democracy,” Jamal said. “Despite this, our protest tomorrow will go ahead — we call on all those who seek justice for Palestine to stand with us.”
Lebanese journalist appointed presidency spokesperson
- Charafeddine is one of two women appointed to the president’s team
DUBAI: Lebanese journalist Najat Charafeddine has been appointed as spokesperson for the presidency, the first woman to hold such a position.
Charafeddine is one of two women appointed to the president’s team, an unprecedented move announced a week after the election of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
Diplomat Jeanne Mrad, who serves at Lebanon’s permanent mission to the United Nations, has been appointed as an adviser for diplomatic affairs at the presidency.
The appointments were hailed by the Lebanese media as a step toward empowering women on the political scene.
Charafeddine, a native of the southern Lebanese town of Taybeh in the Marjeyoun district, holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies from the Lebanese University, and lectured for three years at Antonine University.
She started her career at Future TV, where she worked for 20 years between 1993 and 2013. She first appeared to the public as a news anchor before hosting the programs “Why Taif?” and “Transit.”
Her success in Lebanon paved the way for international reporting. She covered the wars in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) as a correspondent for Future TV. Charafeddine also reported on several international conferences and participated in political and media forums in Washington, London, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, and other countries.
In 2015, Charafeddine moved to Al-Araby TV, where she hosted programs such as “Arab Neighbors” and “Special Dialogue” until 2018. Later, she continued her career in radio, presenting the political program “Sunday Encounter” on Voice of All Lebanon radio.
In addition to her broadcast work, Sharafeddine has written articles for publications such as As-Safir, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, and Al-Shiraa magazine.
She is the wife of former Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni, who was chosen by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in the government of Hassan Diab.
