Alsu Kurmasheva, an RFE/RL journalist who was released in August in a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West, is among four reporters to be honored with the prestigious 2024 International Press Freedom Award, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has announced.
"CPJ's International Press Freedom Awardees symbolize the vital work carried out by reporters everywhere to report facts in the face of fierce attempts to suppress truth," CPJ chief executive Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement on September 19.
"In what has been a devastating year for journalists and for press freedom, it is an honor to stand with them," Ginsberg said.
Kurmasheva, 47, will receive the award in November along with the other three honorees -- Palestinian journalist Shrouq al-Aila, Guatemalan reporter Quimy de Leon, and Samira Sabou from Niger, the CPJ statement said.
Shortly after the CPJ announcement, Kurmasheva said the recognition from the media watchdog “is deeply meaningful” to her.
“CPJ played a pivotal role in advocating for my release, and for that, I am eternally grateful. I’m honored to stand alongside three remarkable journalists whose stories of courage and resilience continue to inspire me,” Kurmasheva said on September 20.
Kurmasheva, a dual Russian-U.S. citizen, was detained in June 2023 while waiting for her return flight to Prague from Kazan. Authorities confiscated both of her passports and her phone. She was released but barred from leaving the country.
After five months of waiting for a decision in her case, Kurmasheva was fined 10,000 rubles ($109) for failing to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities.
Unable to leave Russia without her travel documents, Kurmasheva in October was arrested, jailed, and charged with being an undeclared "foreign agent."
Two months later, she was charged with spreading falsehoods about the Russian military.
In July, a court in Tatarstan's capital, Kazan, sentenced Kurmasheva to 6 1/2 years in prison.
On August 1, she was released along with two other U.S. citizens -- Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.