Russia says case of Kurmasheva is criminal matter not persecution of journalist

Her case is being considered exclusively as a criminal case, the spokeswoman said.

The case of Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), is purely a criminal matter, not the persecution of a journalist, Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman said late on Tuesday.

"Despite the fact that in the West this topic is presented as an alleged persecution of a journalist, I would like to note that in relation to Kurmasheva, such statements, to put it mildly, are not true," Russia's TASS state news agency cited Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman, as saying.

"Her case is being considered exclusively as a criminal case."