ucla alumni travel 2023

Galápagos

We Are UCLA Alumni Association

Dear UCLA Alumni and Friends,

Regards from Westwood,

Our Mission

Ucla alumni travel creating travel memories for the bruin community since 1941, the expertise and knowledge to put your mind at ease, photo gallery.

Hear from fellow travelers

Who is AHI?

• UCLA’s Story
• Alumni Association
• Board of Directors
• James West Alumni Center
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Sustaining Donor Program
• Become a Partner
• Upcoming Events
• Alumni Travel
• Bruin Promise
• Alumni Networks
• Diversity Programs and Initiatives
• Network Leaders Toolkit
• Social Media
• Bruin Business Directory
• Career Engagement
• About UCLA ONE
• Bruin Success Podcast
• Bruin Career Insights
• Alumni Mentor Program
• Professional Programs & Services
• UCLA Alumni Awards
• Bruin Spotlights
• Class Notes
• Student Alumni Association
• Parent & Family Association
• Programs for Students
• Scholarships
• Student Jobs
• Alumni Career Engagement | Students
• Alumni Adventures

Expedition to Antarctica

Join us for this spectacular 14-day journey featuring a nine-night exclusively chartered cruise to Antarctica, Earth’s last frontier. Cruise aboard the intimate L’Austral, one of the finest vessels in Antarctic waters, combining innovative design with personalized service and featuring private balconies in 95% of the 110 deluxe, ocean-view Suites and Staterooms. Retrace the sea lanes navigated by storied explorers Shackleton, Amundsen and Scott and be among the fortunate few to set foot on the continent of Antarctica. Led by our onboard expedition team of naturalists, enjoy guided excursions aboard sturdy Zodiac craft amid floating ice sculptures, intricate ecosystems and abundant wildlife, including humpback whales, leopard seals and Adélie penguins that exhibit little or no fear of humans. A series of enriching lectures on this pristine wilderness completes your optimal Antarctic expedition. Spend two nights in the Five-Star InterContinental Buenos Aires Hotel, including a tour of Argentina’s vibrant capital city. Extend your journey with the exclusive three-night Iguazú Falls Post-Program Option. This unique itinerary is an exceptional value and perennially popular.

Check out this short video from a past Antarctica trip, and see for yourself why this destination is truly a once-in-a-lifetime tour.

Cost: From $9,995 Gohagan & Company

Activity Level: Active

Health and Safety Protocols

Book this Tour

STEP 1 Download the tour Reservation Form here. This tour is booked quickly, so sign up early to reserve space.

STEP 2 Enclose a check or provide credit card information for $800 per person, per tour, as a deposit for the selected tour. Make check payable to Gohagan & Company .  Deposits are provisional and fully refundable pending your acceptance of final brochure terms.

STEP 3 Fax 310-209-4271, email [email protected] , or mail to: Gohagan & Company 209 South LaSalle Street, Suite 500 Chicago, Illinois 60604-1446

A brochure will be mailed to you as soon as it is available.

UCLA Faculty on Tour

PHONE: (310) 206-0613

FAX: (310) 209-4271

EMAIL: [email protected]

Get your UCLA Alumni Travel parking benefit below

Travel Insurance

Other Resources

REQUEST BROCHURES

Please provide your mailing address so we can send the brochures you request. Note that most brochures are not available until six to ten months prior to departure. If the brochure is not yet available, you will be added to a list and will receive the brochure as soon as it becomes available.

Emperors, Conquerors & Saints

Classic Greece & Italy

Island Life in Greek Isles and Ephesus

Moroccan Discovery

Iceland & the Northern Lights

Chilean Wonders – Lake District & Patagonia

Holiday Markets Cruise - The Festive Rhine River

Cuba & Its People II

Journey through Vietnam II

New Zealand Adventure

Egypt & the Eternal Nile

Great Southern Lands of Australia & New Zealand

Treasures of Southeast Asia

Egypt & the Eternal Nile II

Cuba & Its People

Journey to Southern Africa

Panama Potpourri

Focus on Japan

Finland - Arctic Magnificence

Casablanca to Lisbon & Andalusia

Northern Italy

Istanbul & the Turquoise Coast

Cruise the Heart of Europe

Blooming Mediterranean

Lower Mississippi River

Montenegro & the Bay of Kotor plus Dubrovnik

Flavors of Tuscany

Essential France: Provence to Paris

Circumnavigation of Iceland

Classic Safari: Kenya & Tanzania

Machu Picchu to the Galápagos

Classic Safari: Kenya & Tanzania II

Discover Southeast Alaska

Far North Explorer

Treasures of Peru

Scotland: Highlands and Islands

Grand Danube Passage

Machu Picchu to the Galápagos II

Enchanting Gems of Austria: Graz & Salzburg

Vancouver to Toronto by Rail

Africa's Wildlife

Across Spain & Portugal

Easy Company: England to the Eagle’s Nest

Grand Seine River & Normandy Passage

Northern Lights and the Wildlife of Northern Manitoba

Croatia & Cruising the Dalmatian Coast

Romance of the Douro River

South Korea & Japan

Fall Tableau of Canada & New England

Palazzi & Rivieras

Exploring Australia & New Zealand

Vienna: Art of Living

Timeless Islands of the Mediterranean

Antiquity to Anatolia

Mystical India

Egypt & the Eternal Nile III

Holiday Markets Along the Rhine

Antarctica Direct: Fly the Drake Passage

Our Proud Partners

UCLA Alumni Association James West Alumni Center 325 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles, CA 90095

Alumni Links

• Update Profile
• Alumni Career Engagement
• Parent and Family Association

The University

• UCLA Extension
• Career Center
• UCLA Magazine
• Departments and Programs
• UCLA Lake Arrowhead Lodge

Terms of Use

Copyright © 2022 UCLA Alumni

Alternate Schedule for Summer 2024: June 17 – September 20, 2024

From june 17 – september 20, 2024, the spanish & portuguese main office will be closed on fridays and all staff will work remotely. staff will also work an alternate schedule during this time. see the staff page for more information. .

Hello and happy summer!

While this is the season to relax, unwind and enjoy warm sunny weather, as we take in the beautiful sights of summer we are also reminded of the important contributions we each make to support vision health.

We say farewell to our clinical fellows for the 2024 academic year who made tremendous contributions during their time with Doheny, and now move onto exciting professional opportunities. We also welcome our incoming clinical fellows and are eager for the opportunity to collaborate and be part of their continued educational journey.

Looking ahead to the coming months, we are pleased to have more opportunities to reconnect with our Doheny Professional Alumni Association members at several Doheny Eye Institute events, including the 6th Annual Doheny-UCLA Glaucoma Symposium on September 28, and the Doheny and Stein Eye Institutes Annual Alumni Reception at AAO on October 20.

Beyond our in-person events, we encourage you to reach out to us throughout the year to share your professional and personal achievements, subspecialty updates, or suggestions on editorial to be included in upcoming newsletters.

For a future “Where are you now?” newsletter section, we are putting out a call to all alumni whose class graduating year ends in a “4” (i.e., class of 2014, 2004, 1994, etc.). Please share your updates with us on your current practice, about your family and any pictures from your time at Doheny!

Lastly but certainly not least, I extend my heartfelt gratitude for voting for the Doheny Eye Institute in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. Your unwavering support and recognition of our institute’s excellence in ophthalmology play a crucial role in maintaining our esteemed position as a leader in vision research and patient care. Together, we continue to uphold and advance the legacy of Doheny, ensuring a brighter future for all those we serve.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

Looking Back on Another Successful ARVO Annual Meeting

As one of the world’s foremost vision research institutions, Doheny Eye Institute was well represented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting, held May 5-9 in Seattle.

Not only were Doheny scientists selected to present their latest research in more than 28 paper and poster presentations, but our own SriniVas Sadda, MD, Director of Artificial Intelligence & Imaging Research at Doheny Eye Institute, was officially named president of ARVO. Additionally, multiple events and an engaging exhibitor presence helped Doheny connect with a wide variety of attendees. This year’s ARVO meeting welcomed more than 11,000 attendees.

The annual Doheny-UCLA Breakfast Forum on May 5 was a wonderful way to kick off the week, with a packed room of attendees to explore Fresh Perspectives on Retinopathy, the topic of the meeting. Scientific experts were convened to share their novel perspectives on unrecognized determinants of retinopathy. The speakers included Julia V. Busik, PhD, FARVO; Arup Das, MD, PhD, FARVO; and Mike Sapieha, PhD. Kaustabh Ghosh, PhD, helped organize and moderate this engaging discussion.

L-R: Arup Das, MD, PhD, Julia V. Busik, PhD, FARVO, Mike Sapieha, PhD, Kaustabh Ghosh, PhD and Deborah Ferrington, PhD

L-R: Andrea Lantini, Kaustabh Ghosh, PhD, and Marissa Goldberg

Rouzbeh Abbasgholizadeh

Marissa Goldberg and Parameswaran Sreekumar

Linda Tsai and Sean Pitetta

On May 6, Doheny reconnected with many of our esteemed alumni during the ARVO Annual Alumni Reception. More than 200 guests enjoyed a lively evening of delectable food, drink, music, and conversation with friends old and new. The diverse turnout underscored the enduring bond and the collective spirit that unites our alumni communities, demonstrating the strength and vitality of the Doheny alumni network.

Throughout the exhibition portion of ARVO, Doheny and UCLA united once again in a shared booth space. Thousands of attendees visited to learn more about the institutes’ commitment to groundbreaking vision research, discuss opportunities to collaborate, and more.

One of the many highlights of the week included Doheny Chief Scientific Officer Deborah Ferrington, PhD, leading a mini-symposium session on her latest research in age-related macular degeneration. Other topics presented by Doheny scientists included diabetic retinopathy, advanced discoveries in neuro-ophthalmology, retinal cell biology and visual neuroscience.

The successful week concluded with Dr. Sadda, being officially introduced as president of ARVO. The moment came during the final keynote, marking the conclusion of the weeklong meeting. In his role, Dr. Sadda will lead planning for ARVO 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The theme he has established for the upcoming meeting is i3: Imagining Innovation and Intelligence in Vision Science.

Aside from a phenomenal and productive onsite presence, Doheny’s stellar scientists were also featured in several media articles coming out of ARVO 2024, including:

• Pre-event coverage in Modern Retina and Ophthalmology Times
• Giulia Corradetti, MD, was featured in Ophthalmology Times
• Dr. Ferrington was featured in Optometry Times and Ophthalmology Times
• Dr. Sadda was featured in three Ophthalmology Times articles ( here , here , and here ) as well as Medika Life
• Irene Santiago was featured in Ophthalmology Times

We look forward to ARVO 2025 being another engaging and successful opportunity for Doheny to share our research, connect and collaborate with other top minds in our field.

Announcing the Annual Doheny ARVO Travel Award Recipients

Each year ahead of the ARVO Annual Meeting, Doheny Eye Institute organizes an event to help early career scientists prepare to present their findings to the global vision research community. Annually, four participating research fellows are selected to receive a $500 travel award to attend and present at ARVO. These annual Travel Awards are sponsored through the generosity of the Doheny Professional Alumni Association, whose members not only pay their dues but also donate to the Warren Wilson Fellowship fund. The Warren Wilson Fellowship Fund was established in the mid 1990s to augment educational resources for the residents. In our partnership with UCLA Stein Eye Institute, the Doheny Alumni Association Board of Directors unanimously voted to offer support to our fellows in training.

A panel of four judges selected the 2024 winners, two for the basic science posters and two for the clinical/imaging posters. We are excited to announce the research fellows who received this year’s annual ARVO Travel Awards.

Ken Marion, Doheny Image Reading and Research Lab’s (DIRRL) Assistant Director, and Anna Urrea (Travel award winner)

L-R: Satishkumar Chandrakumar, Kaustabh Ghosh, PhD, Irene Santiago (Travel award winner), and Mahesh Agarwal (Travel award winner)

Basic Science Winners:

• Irene Santiago presented Abnormal Subendothelial Matrix Exacerbates Choroidal Endothelial Cell Death in Early Age-related Macular Degeneration
• Mahesh Agarwal presented Actin Remodeling Governs Neutrophil Activation: Implications for Retinal Capillary Degeneration in Diabetic Retinopathy

 Clinical/Imaging Winners:

• Ayesha Nuri Karamat (image not available) presented Real‐World Prevalence and Progress of Intraretinal and Subretinal Fluid in Eyes Switched to Faricimab for the treatment of Neovascular Age‐Related Macular Degeneration
• Anna Urrea presented Extending the Fluid Free Treatment Interval for Neovascular Age‐related Macular Degeneration following the Switch to Faricimab – of note, following the ARVO annual meeting, we found that Anna is the daughter of our own Dr. Paul Urrea who is on the PAA Board of Directors.

Congratulations to each of the recipients!

Mark Your Calendar for Upcoming Continuing Medical Education Courses

We are pleased to unveil the next series of Doheny Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses.

September 28, 2024

6th Annual Doheny-UCLA Glaucoma Symposium

• Co-Directed by Vikas Chopra, MD, and Brian Francis, MD, MS
• Donald Minckler Doheny Glaucoma Lecturer: Kuldev Singh, MD, MPH
• Teresa C. Chen, MD will be a keynote speaker
• More information is available at this link

Photo: Glaucoma Symposium Faculty in 2023

February 1, 2025

3rd Annual Doheny-UCLA International Retina Symposium

• Co-Directed by Michael Ip, MD, and Kirk Hou, MD, PhD
• Keynote Speakers: Emily Chew, MD, and Hedrik Scholl, MD, MA, FARVO
• Additional details to be shared in the coming months

Photo : Retina International Symposium Faculty in 2024

March 29, 2025

2025 Annual Doheny CME Conference

• Co-Directed by Monica Khitri, MD, Dan Rootman, MD, MS, and Ben Bert, MD, FACS
• Irvine Lecturer: Baruch Kuppermann, MD, PHD

Photo: Doheny Annual CME Conference Faculty in 2024

For the latest details on upcoming CME courses, visit our Doheny Events page .

Join or Renew Your Membership to the Doheny Professional Alumni Association

If you haven’t already, now is the time to join or renew your Doheny Professional Alumni Association (PAA) membership.

There are numerous benefits to being part of the PAA, including providing resources to research and clinical fellows – such as our annual ARVO Travel Awards. Over the coming year, the PAA plans to use funds generated through dues to expand support to clinical and research fellows through scholarships, underwriting courses and lectures, and gifting educational materials.

Additional PAA member benefits include:

• Invitation to the alumni receptions at the Annual American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meetings
• Invitation to the Annual Alumni Dinner
• Free registration for one Doheny CME conference of your choice (a savings of at least $100)

Incoming and Outgoing Clinical Fellows

Please join us in sending congratulations to our graduating fellows. Doheny thanks each of these remarkable individuals for their many contributions during their fellowship, and we welcome them into the Doheny Professional Alumni Association.

We also send a warm welcome to our incoming 2024-2025 fellows.

Outgoing Fellows: 

Adil Ahmed, DO DEC Cornea fellow Going into private practice in New York

Stephanie Midtling, MD DEC Glaucoma fellow Going into private practice with Acuity Eye Group in San Diego

Alexander Engelmann, MD DEC/SEI Neuro fellow Will be completing another fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute

Juan Fernandez, MD DEC/SEI Neuro fellow Returning to Tripler Army Medical Center

Connie Sears, MD DEC/SEI Oculoplastic fellow Working on several manuscripts for publication in scientific journals

Jack Lemon, MD DEC/SEI Retina fellow Joining Kaiser in Santa Clara

Incoming Fellows: 

Adam Tanaka, MD DEC Glaucoma fellow Residency: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore/Krieger Eye Institute Specialty/research interest: Glaucoma

Roxana Godiwalla, DO DEC Cornea fellow Residency: Medical College of Wisconsin/ Eye Institute Specialty/research interest: Cornea and External Diseases/Corneal neurotization

Thanh-Liem Huynh-Tran, MD DEC/SEI Neuro Fellow Residency: UCLA Neurology Specialty/research interest: Neuro-ophthalmology/neurology

Angela Oh, MD DEC/SEI Oculoplastic Fellow Residency: UCLA Ophthalmology Specialty/research interest: Oculoplastic/reconstructive surgery

Fun fact: Angela was the one of the recipients of the 2019 ARVO Travel Award sponsored by the Doheny Alumni Association

Marko Popovic, MD DEC/SEI Retina Fellow Residency: University of Toronto, Canada Specialty/research interest: multimodal imaging and epidemiology of retinal disease

Alumni Notes

We’re proud to see Doheny Alumni continue to be recognized and make impactful contributions to their field, as well as experience exciting achievements in their personal lives.

Join Us: Annual Doheny and Stein Eye Institutes Alumni Reception at AAO

Please plan on attending the annual Alumni Reception at the 2024 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting.

October 20, 2024 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Reception 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Music and Dancing Westin Chicago River North Hotel

It will be a delightful evening of conversation, networking and celebration. Our colleague DJ AJA – better known as Anthony Aldave, MD – will keep the tunes going all night. We hope to see you there!

Doheny Shines in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report

The Doheny and Stein Eye Institutes have proudly secured the 5th spot in the nation according to the U.S. News & World Report rankings. This prestigious recognition underscores Doheny’s unwavering commitment to excellence in ophthalmology, groundbreaking research, and top-tier education.

As a leading vision research organization, Doheny continues to attract distinguished clinician-scientists and researchers, foster innovative collaborations, and deliver superior outcomes for patients. The significant role of our alumni in promoting the values, mission, and achievements of Doheny has been instrumental in enhancing its reputation and standing within the wider community, further solidifying its status as a premier destination for ophthalmological care.

Share this with your friends!

Luskins donate $25 million to UCLA history department ‘in service to the public good’

• Copy Link URL Copied!

As a UCLA student in the 1940s, Meyer Luskin decided he could not make a living with a history degree. This week, the economics graduate pledged $25 million to the history department in hopes of inspiring current students to choose the path he did not.

This gift, announced Tuesday, is the single largest donation the department and the UCLA Social Sciences Division have received. The Southern California business leader and his wife, fellow UCLA alum Renee Luskin, have given close to $200 million to their alma mater over the years. The history department will be renamed in their honor.

For the record:

4:42 p.m. July 17, 2024 An earlier version of this story incorrectly quantified the legislation states have passed to reshape school history curriculums.

“We believe the study of history is vital in creating informed participants in a vibrant democratic society,” Meyer Luskin said. “This gift will ensure that students and faculty have ample resources and opportunities to study the past, which will allow them … further understanding of the present in service to the public good.”

The donation comes at a pivotal moment for history scholarship. Since 2017, states have cumulatively passed 120 pieces of legislation reshaping the way schools are allowed to teach about race and gender. Meanwhile, some universities have moved to cut their humanities programs amid budget constraints and declining enrollment.

With this donation, the Luskins seek to maintain the department’s role as a national leader. Their funds also will bolster initiatives such as updating school curriculum from kindergarten through high school to include the experiences of women and people of color.

UCLA gets $100-million donation

Jan. 26, 2011

Luskin said he hopes students and the general public will re-embrace the perspectives that history can provide, rather than getting caught up in the immediacy of social media and misinformation.

“I want everyone to appreciate the value of where we’ve been, what’s happened, where [there] were the mistakes and how we can avoid repeating them,” Luskin has said. “It’s going to be a dangerous outcome if people continue to get so caught up in daily and transitory events without a true vision of where we’ve been and where we’re going.”

After graduating from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1949, Luskin earned a master’s degree from Stanford University and became a leader in recycling and processing food waste into animal feed as president of Scope Industries.

He attributes his success to a $30 scholarship that UCLA awarded him to continue his studies after returning from military service in World War II.

Part of the couple’s most recent gift will go toward supporting graduate fellowships. In this way, the Luskins said, they hope to continue giving other students the same opportunity to pursue education that they had.

“We’ve seen value come from the help we’ve given,” Luskin said in an interview. “We’ve spoken to so many graduates who tell us without the fellowships, without the scholarships, they never would have been able to attend graduate school.”

Though he never finished his history degree, Luskin said he continues to see the benefit in studying and learning about history.

UCLA receives $20-million gift to establish center for study of microbial organisms

Andrea and Donald Goodman, and Renee and Meyer Luskin, donated the money for the UCLA Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center to develop treatments for autoimmune diseases.

Feb. 15, 2023

Before Scope Industries, Luskin said, he worked as a contract driller in Libya. After spending a day with a Libyan employee, he learned that, if history repeated itself, the country’s administration at the time would be overthrown, putting the industry at risk.

“Sure enough, we left there, and several years later, a dictator came in … and he nationalized the oil industry,” Luskin recalled. “All the American companies and all the contractors lost money and went broke, and I was saved because I was interested in history.”

It is that same philosophy — applying historical knowledge to contemporary issues — that serves as the foundation of the UCLA history department and the programs this donation will support.

“It’s my understanding that so many historians do their research and writing for publishing within the world of history,” Luskin said. “What we’re hoping to encourage is publishing the results as they would apply to current society, and trying to, therefore, import facts or conclusions to our existing legislators.”

The Luskin Center for History and Policy, created with help from a $5-million donation from the Luskins in 2017 and furthered by the recent donation, seeks to do just that. By convening university scholars, outside experts and government officials, the center puts out reports that look at how issues such as homelessness have been addressed in the past to offer alternative solutions to current crises.

However, it’s not just policymakers that these initiatives seek to address.

The Public History Initiative, which will also be supported by this recent donation, aims to teach undergraduate students how to write for a public audience. It also places students in internships with community partners where they can explore possible career paths and experience firsthand how history is applicable outside of academia.

David Myers, director of the Luskin Center for History and Policy, said studying history helps students understand how things come to be, how they went awry, and how to prevent problems in the future. This skill, Myers said, students can take with them to any profession.

“I really do believe there is no door that history doesn’t open, which is quite different from some other disciplines,” Myers said. “Ours is a much more universal array of vocational options which really enables us to send students out into the world with the capacity not just to be effective workers, but to be actively engaged in civic life. That’s the essential precondition to informed engagement in civil society — having that depth of historical perspective.”

The donation also will be used to support the department’s Why History Matters series and the new Making History in Los Angeles program, both of which contribute to UCLA’s responsibility to be an “illuminator of the path from the past to the present,” Myers said.

Myers added that looking to the past becomes increasingly important when the fate of democracy hangs in the balance.

“It’s so terribly important to be reminded of previous periods in which we saw great threats to democracy,” Myers said. “We need to be vigilant and alert to the warning signs that allow for the disintegration of a democratic system into something other than that.”

Luskin added that, if the public isn’t informed, they will be “fooled into something much worse than democracy.” In that battle, he said, universities are the first line of defense.

It doesn’t matter whether students major in history, Luskin said, but he encourages them to study it nonetheless.

“That’s the important lesson,” Luskin said. “Learn who you are, who we are, what our background is, [and] how that would help us get to someplace better.”

More to Read

UC Irvine renames biology school after $50-million donation from entrepreneur

June 16, 2024

James Lawson’s booming voice and loving spirit left a lasting mark on this UCLA professor

June 15, 2024

UCLA has a new chancellor: Julio Frenk, University of Miami president, global health expert

June 12, 2024

Sign up for Essential California

The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Veronica Roseborough is a summer 2024 reporting intern covering education for the Los Angeles Times. She is a recent graduate of UC Berkeley, where she studied media and the law and worked for Berkeley’s independent, student-run newspaper, the Daily Californian. She also previously covered education and policy as an intern at the San Francisco Examiner and the Hill.

More From the Los Angeles Times

L.A. child-care industry in tailspin, hit with disruption as transition kindergarten grows

July 24, 2024

LAUSD test scores rise in math and English, positive marks after pandemic setbacks

July 23, 2024

This high school marching band ‘represents the soul of Inglewood’

Carvalho, who unplugged school AI chatbot, wants task force to tell him what went wrong

World News | US-Russian journalist sentenced to 6 1/2 years…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Investigative Reporting
• Environment

World News | US-Russian journalist sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison

Alsu kurmasheva was convicted of spreading false information about the russian military.

A court has convicted Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for the U.S. 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.

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 U.S. 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, 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.”

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 U.S. 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 U.S. and Russian passports and fined her for failing to register her U.S. 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 multiethnic, 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 U.S. 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 U.S.

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 U.S. 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.

U.S. President Joe Biden said after his conviction that Gershkovich “was targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American.”

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. 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 U.S. denied.

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?”

• Newsroom Guidelines
• Report an Error

More in World News

World News | A key Netanyahu coalition partner says Trump is best for Israel

National Politics | Netanyahu address creates a dilemma for Democrats

National News | Netanyahu seeks support for Gaza war in address to Congress that sparks large protests and boycotts

World News | France says it banned 1,000 suspected spies from Olympics