Press Releases

Harrassment of Internews Russia Expands

(June 29, 2007) In a further setback to Russia’s struggling independent media, Russian prosecutors revealed on June 21st that they had several days earlier filed criminal charges of smuggling against Manana Aslamazyan, President of the Educated Media Foundation (EMF, formerly known as Internews Russia). They say they are officially considering opening an investigation on two more criminal charges, illegal business activities and money laundering. Also on June 21, a Moscow court rejected a motion to have the investigators' techniques ruled illegal; Aslamazyan’s lawyers will appeal. They are also considering appealing to the European Court for Human Rights if they feel they are not getting justice in Russia.

On the advice of her lawyers, Aslamazyan has been directing the protracted legal battle from outside the country. With little hope of returning to work in Russia in the short term, Aslamazyan announced on June 19 that she has accepted a consultancy position with the US-based Internews Network, which has been a long-time partner of the independent Russian NGO Educated Media Foundation.

In an essay "Putin Strikes Again" in the New York Review of Books, Jamey Gambrell puts Aslamazyan's case in the context of increasing attacks on Russian journalists under Vladimir Putin.

"Murdering journalists is simply the most visible manifestation of the constant campaign against the press. Far more effective are the economic, judicial, and administrative measures being used systematically to quash human rights and information-gathering organizations and other genuinely independent members of civil society… One of the most recent victims of the Putin bureaucracy has been an NGO called the Educated Media Foundation (EMF), formerly known as Internews Russia. Over the past decade, this nonprofit organization has trained more than 15,000 Russian broadcast journalists, mostly from the provinces, in the best practices of journalism… The only 'ideological' aspect of their work has been to explain and encourage internationally recognized ethical standards for fair reporting."

In a highly unusual gesture, over 2000 Russian media professionals, including many well-known personalities from government-controlled national media, have signed an open letter to President Putin in support of EMF, and there has been extensive coverage as well as supportive editorials in Russian-language media. Other recent coverage on this troubling case includes interviews with Aslamazyan by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, ABC (Australia) and CBC (Canada), and articles in the Times (UK), the Moscow Times. Articles in the New York Times and the Economist have mentioned the case as part of a disturbing trend.

On April 18, members of the department of economic crimes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted an eleven-hour raid on the Moscow office of EMF, seizing all of the computer servers and thousands of financial, administrative and legal documents. The criminal investigation and raid were triggered by Aslamazyan's neglecting to file a customs declaration form when re-entering Russia in January.  She was carrying the equivalent of US $2500 more than the legal limit for undeclared cash. She has admitted her mistake, which was based on confusion on whether the regulations were based on dollars or euros.

Educated Media Foundation suspended operations in May, and most of the staff have sought other work. In an open letter to supporters, Aslamazyan writes: "The ordinary oversight  which I personally committed five months ago should not have destroyed  this organization… 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 that clearly knows that its responsibility is to its audience and to no one else."

See previous articles and statements about EMF