Press Releases

Court Rejects Motion to Drop Criminal Case, Tax Service Unfreezes Bank Accounts

Educated Media Foundation  (Legal Successor of “Internews Russia”) Statement

May 30, 2007

(Unofficial English translation - original in Russian)

Dear colleagues,

The Educated Media Foundation informs its colleagues that the No. 3 Inspection Department of the Tax Ministry has now unfrozen all of the EMF’s bank accounts.

On 30 May, the Tverskoi court of Moscow recognized as legal the prolongation till 4 June of the investigation of the case concerning the president of the Educated Media Foundation (EMF, legal successor of “Internews Russia”) Manana Aslamazyan. In doing so, the court denied the defense’s motion to have the investigation closed. The criminal investigation of Ms. Aslamazyan is based on the accusation of smuggling foreign currency in connection with her failure to fill out a required customs declaration when entering the country.

The court did not find a basis for agreeing with the request of the defense to find the prolongation of the investigation illegal. According to EMF lawyer Boris Kuznetsov “in its decision, the court recognized that the way the prolongation was done by prosecutors after the original 31 March deadline for completing the investigation, was illegal. However the court nonetheless ruled that prolongation of the investigation was legal.” Kuznetsov called the decision illegitimate and without basis. He announced his intention to appeal the decision of Judge Kovalevskaya in Moscow City Court.