Critics See Political Motive in Closing of Russian Fund
June 29, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Russian government has closed down a journalism organization in Russia that gets money from Western countries, opening a criminal investigation that many observers say has been trumped up for political reasons, reports The Washington Post.
Russian authorities have seized computers and frozen the bank accounts of the Educated Media Foundation, whose leader, Manana Aslamazyan, has been accused of money laundering for failing to declare a small amount of money at the Moscow airport, reports the Post.
The nonprofit leader, who fled to Paris, faces five years in prison for the offense — which is normally handled by the airport police and settled with a fine, says Ms. Aslamazyan’s lawyer.
Critics see the episode as the most blatant example of the Kremlin’s increased muzzling of nonprofit groups backed by Western sources, which the Russian government claims are meddling in domestic politics — or even attempting to stir up revolution.
The Educated Media Foundation, which trains journalists, has received several million dollars from the U.S. government, as well as the European Union, the Canadian government, and the Ford Foundation, among other groups.
Read more about the crackdown on nonprofit groups in Russia in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
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