The detention of the Russian-American journalist Alsou Kurmaseva was extended until October 23. according to dReuters reporter who was in court, which considered the request for pre-trial detention today.

Russian-American Alsou Kurmaseva is a Prague-based journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is funded by the US Congress and features Russia “foreign agent”, which means that it receives foreign funding for activities considered political.

Kurmaseva was arrested this week, becoming the second American journalist to be detained in Russia.

The Kremlin is not following the case, its spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Russia is not conducting a targeted campaign to prosecute US citizens, but if they do something illegal they are responsible for it under Russian law.

The Sovetsky court in Kazan, Tatarstan, earlier told the press that the journalist for US media outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was being prosecuted for breaching her obligations to register as a “foreign agent” after entering Russia on May 20, adding that the investigating authorities requested her pre-trial detention.

The Russian-American journalist, who is in custody in the city of Kazan (western Russia), holds an American and a Russian passport.

She was arrested and taken into temporary custody by Russian security authorities as she waited for her return flight on June 2.

Her passports were confiscated at Kazan airport and she was fined for failing to declare her US passport to Russian authorities.

According to court documents, she was fined $103.26 on October 11.

Kurmaseva faces prosecution for failing to declare to authorities that she is a “foreign agent” and faces up to five years in prison, according to RFE/RL.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president Geoffrey Gedmin said Kurmaseva is a “reputable colleague, devoted wife and mother of two” and should be released to return to her family immediately.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based NGO, called on Russian authorities to “immediately release” Alsou Kurmaseva and “drop all prosecutions” against her.

Kurmaseva is the second American journalist to be arrested in Russia in 2023. He was preceded by Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerskovich, who was arrested in Moscow on March 19 and is facing espionage charges, which he and the paper call frivolous.