An Open Letter from Manana Aslamazyan

June 19, 2007

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

(unofficial English translation – Russian original)

To:    Everyone who signed the letter in support of Internews who is interested in the fate of our organization and me personally

This is not a political manifesto, it is my sincere personal letter to you, my dear friends. I cannot thank each of you individually, so I am writing to everyone all together.

Thank you to everyone who signed the letter defending the Educated Media Foundation (formerly Internews Russia). I could not have imagined that we – the organization and I personally – have so many friends across the whole country. Every bit of bad luck brings some good with it. Now I know how many friends I have and I clearly understand that you were demonstrating how much you valued the work that we did together for so many years. Many of you got professional knowledge and skills at Internews. Those cannot be taken away – they are yours to keep. Wonderful trainers helped you become professionals – independently thinking people who produce quality work.  Your support for us is a sign that you remember taking part in our numerous projects, competitions, conferences and public events. We always tried to make them useful in their content and not boring in their format. There was only one guiding principle for all of our work: that people in every city of our enormous country deserve access to professional local television. Television that helps its fellow citizens understand the times in which they live and the events taking place in their country. Television which clearly knows that its responsibility is to its audience and to no one else. For 10 years we created a home that was open to all, no matter what part of the country they came from. It was an open, intelligent and welcoming home.

The ordinary oversight which I personally committed five months ago, should not have destroyed this organization. I should be the one to make amends for that mistake, not an organization whose work is now essentially suspended. It is impossible to work without our computer servers, our documents, and now practically without a staff. People need to go on living and feeding their families. I am happy that the majority of the Foundation’s staff are already working at various TV channels, academic institutions or other organizations and I am sure they will contribute a great deal there. At EMF there are just a few people left who are busy keeping basic functions going, finishing projects that had already been started and dealing with various administrative tasks.

Now about my personal fate, in order to put an end to various rumors and gossip. I am a Russian citizen; I have no other citizenship. I was born in Armenia but have lived in Moscow continuously since 1974. I have no property outside Russia or any personal accounts in foreign banks. In order to live, I need to work, just as all my colleagues do. I have been invited to be a consultant for an international organization with offices in the USA, Asia, Africa and Europe. It turns out that there is a demand for my many years of experience as a manager and my ability to coordinate projects. I have accepted this offer and in the nearest future the board of founders of the Educated Media Foundation will discuss my decision at a meeting.

The situation is already such that, contrary to any logic, the offense that I personally committed is having an effect on the future of the Foundation in Russia.  It is still not clear what plans law enforcement agencies have with respect to me. All the numerous complaints and motions of our lawyers have so far not produced any results at all. Honestly speaking, given the current state of jurisprudence in Russia, I do not know what to expect and I find this terrible.

I am going to work in America, Asia, Africa and Europe, pay my taxes in Russia, and wait until the court finally figures out why my personal mistake, for which I am ready to accept a fair and appropriate penalty, became the excuse for suspending the work of a large organization that brought a lot of benefit to the country.

I am deeply saddened by the events of the past few months, but I am grateful to everyone who loves us, remembers us, and has been helping us. I believe that this story will at some point have a happy ending. An ending that is honest, in keeping with the law, and not politicized.

And that’s all I have to say.

I ask everyone from the media to direct any questions on the legal aspects of this case not to me but to my lawyers Boris Kuznetsov and Viktor Parshutkin.

Manana A. Aslamazyan

See previous articles and statements about EMF