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Journalist's Expulsion Remains a Mystery
New Times magazine journalist Natalia Morar received no explanation from the Russian embassy in her native Moldova for why she was turned away at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow when trying to return from a trip to Israel. She had lived and worked in Moscow for six years. Besides New Times, the International Federation of Journalists and human rights activists queried the Russian Foreign Ministry and FSB about her case. They did not receive answers either.
Morar was informed by border control officers that her presence in Russia was “undesirable” and they were acting on a directive of the “central apparatus of the FSB” when they forced her to buy a ticket to Chisinau, with the promise that the Russian embassy their would explain the situation on Monday. The embassy claimed to know about the case only from press reports.
The case has attracted negative attention in Russia and abroad. New Times deputy editor-in-chief Evgenia Albats stated that the publication is preparing a suit against the FSB. Russian Union of Journalists general secretary Igor Yakovenko stated that “I can explain the silence of the authorities only one way. The only real reason for the prohibition on her entry into Russia could be professional activities. But the special services cannot say that aloud, it would be a flagrant violation of the Russian Constitution and legislation.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 18, 2007
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