INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
war in Ukraine that her family and employer denied
International Press Freedom Award in New York, Kurmasheva spoke to The Moscow Times about her experience in prison, the prisoner swap, life
since being released and raising awareness for her imprisoned colleagues.This interview has been edited for length and clarity.The Moscow
communities and human rights
Considering the intensified pressure on Indigenous activism since the invasion, it seems like this may have been one of the reasons why you
Would you say so?Alsu Kurmasheva: I've been working as a journalist for Radio Free Europe for more than 20 years
I saw my mission there to give a voice to the Tatar community who had no free media, no resources and not even education to openly speak
It's like centuries of oppression
The Radio Free Europe Tatar-Bashkir service was really great in its mission
I loved every minute and every day of working, I loved every project.There were better times in terms of press freedom, there were worse
During better times, my radio shows were on local FM stations in Kazan and people would recognize my voice
There were worse times during the Cold War, but I knew about them only from books and archives, and the worse times for press freedom are
countries where there is no press freedom
There were certain risks, of course
But nobody would think that the Russian authorities would go so far as to imprison a journalist, a mother of two children, a woman in her
I was kept there exactly because I was an American citizen and I was a journalist
It's very important in prison to have at least a 10-15 minute weekly phone call with your loved ones
I was lucky to have visits from a lawyer and I was getting lots of letters.What is life like in a Russian women's prison, and did your
If every male prisoner has a girlfriend or a wife or a mother outside waiting for him, sending letters and sending food packages, women
Most of them have problems with their families
Most of them don't have husbands or boyfriends
And those who have children, the children are either in orphanages or, in the best case scenario, are being taken in by their relatives or
correctly or you don't get up at 6 a.m
punishment is the extension of the sentence
All those things are making a huge impact on the emotional and physical well-being of women.Another thing is the conditions, at least in the
prison where I was in Kazan
It's an old prison dating back to the end of the 19th century
The conditions were very bad
It has a huge impact on emotional well-being when women can't afford to have their basic hygienic standards.Another thing I've noticed among
women prisoners is that they're not willing to unite, to cooperate
There are individual acts of kindness and support, of course, but it's harder for women to fight for their rights in prison
I take this as a consequence of the [wider] situation in the country where it's harder for women to fight for their rights and support
bigger cell with 10 other women
I found two incredible young women, one was a university math student and she was giving me math lessons in exchange for English
It was distracting for both of us
At some point, months later, she told me that she was giving me tasks from her university program, and I was so proud of myself
There was another young lady from Morocco
Her French and Arabic were native and my French and Arabic have been on a very basic beginner level for my whole life
I found it was a great opportunity to learn those languages from her
And she was a former soccer coach
So this is how we spent our days when we didn't have to go anywhere, exercising and speaking French and Arabic when we could
Of course, those cases were very, very unique.How often were you able to receive letters from your family?My mom and I were exchanging usual
letters through the post, and it took three or four days for them to be delivered
I had very limited communication with my husband, Pavel, and my daughters
It was only possible through the lawyers, and the lawyers are not allowed to bring in any communication
So most of the time it was very short messages passed on through the lawyer and no details
I didn't know anything about the interviews they were doing to raise awareness
I didn't know anything about the advocacy campaign
I would lie down on my bed back in the cell and think for hours about what it might be.I'll be honest with you, for months, the future
looked very grim, very sad
I knew what was happening with other cases like mine
I was so lucky to be getting a news digest from the volunteers
I still don't know who was working on that, but I'm sure people will recognize their efforts right now when I say that
I knew that the development wasn't a positive one
I knew that those long sentences people were getting were the same charges.I love to plan, even if it's a bad one
Of course, my plan A was to get released
I knew that there were other prominent Americans ahead of me who had been in custody for a longer time, like Evan Gershkovich and Paul
I'm sure there were other ones who we didn't know about
I was hoping that the sentence wouldn't be that long, that I would serve that sentence and be back home
And then I learned that my trial was on the same day as Evan's , so it gave me a big hope, actually
When I was being transferred to Moscow, though they didn't tell me where they were taking me, I was, again, very hopeful
It was like a chain of hope
everything was so fragile, and I learned that only when I came back
I'm so thankful to all the governments for their kindness, and for releasing me and accepting me, because that meant a lot
If they had left me behind this time, which happened many times to Paul, I mean, what could I have done? I don't know
I couldn't have done anything, but it would have severely damaged my well-being and my physical health too
My health was deteriorating tremendously
I've gone through certain medical procedures since I've been back
All is good now and will be better hopefully, but those nine and a half months in those conditions just had a huge impact on my health.How
has readjusting to life been? Were there things that you didn't expect would be difficult? Well, if I say nothing is difficult, it'll be a
But every time I'm facing difficulty in dealing with any kind of problem, I just turn on my flashbacks and memory, which is still very
Really, nothing is difficult
But I need time to process
I'm not going global right now
I really want to stay low-key
This is what I think everybody should do if you're facing a lot, and you think that you're not going to deal with this huge trauma or
so much, and not only physically, but mentally
Sometimes the language they speak sounds like a foreign language to me, because they're teenagers
They're so patient and so supportive
They are teaching me those words and phrases, which I'm so happy for
just to learn that, I don't want to
They said that they will be giving me that information
I'm trying to understand why they're acting a certain way, and I'm really proud of them
They were champions of my advocacy campaign, and Bibi was the face of my advocacy campaign
I'm supporting her in her education and her curiosity to learn more about Russia and the world
She's taking a global politics class and economy, which is great, which is very natural for our family, and I'm really supporting her
This is what I'm focusing on, my children and family.From there, I'll jump into your question about what is next
I'm slowly going into, I wouldn't call it advocacy, but rather support of families of my imprisoned colleagues ..
because I know exactly what they're going through
lot, they do almost everything, and still the doors are closed
..The most worrying situation is with our Belarusian colleagues in Belarus, Ihar Losik and Andrei Kuznechyk
Ihar has been incommunicado for four years
Vladyslav Yesypenko is in Russian-controlled Crimea, he hasn't seen his wife and little daughter for three years
And there is Farid Mehralizada in Azerbaijan, a prominent economist and journalist who was detained six months ago
Again, a very similar case to mine, where they detained journalists not on journalism charges, but basically it is for journalism and for
doing their job well.You're receiving CPJ's International Press Freedom Award, and you are taking a stand for press freedom
I've been a journalist for almost 10 years, and it seems like every year, it just gets worse and worse around the world
Free journalism, objective journalism, is more important than ever
Who if not The Moscow Times, and who if not RFE/RL, knows that? We journalists, our work is always more important when there is trouble,
when there is uncertainty
..Of course, I wasn't thinking of any awards
My biggest award has always been serving my audience, their feedback
I've done so for more than 20 years
I was delivering uncensored, objective information to my Tatar community in Tatar and Russian languages
Our work at RFE/RL was very highly valued by our audience
That's the most important award you can receive
But I'm extremely honored to receive the CPJ International Press Freedom Award, as it will be so instrumental in raising awareness of
imprisoned journalists in Russia
I believe, and I might be mistaken, that there are more than 20 journalists imprisoned in Russia right now
Journalism is not a crime
They should be released.Our work right now is to document what is happening and to be a witness to history
Sooner or later, they will be over
And everybody should do what their mission is and what they are supposed to do.You have done a lot of work to promote Tatar language and
My favorite anecdote was from our article that said you narrated a popular Tatar-language course, and so many people just know you by your
voice because they studied that way
they started learning Tatar after I was arrested because they found that project
It meant the world to me.Whatever I will be doing, my identity will stay with me, my Tatar identity and who I am
The Tatar community is spread all around the world
There's a big Tatar community in the United States
community and wider audience
I want to share my experience and my vision
I'm sure I will stay connected to my audience always, one way or another, for sure.
