Guardian’s Moscow Correspondent Expelled From Russia
Posted by Info on 08/02/2011
Luke Harding’s forced departure comes after the newspaper’s reporting of the WikiLeaks cables, where he reported on allegations that Russia under the rule of Vladimir Putin had become a “virtual mafia state”.
The journalist flew back to Moscow at the weekend after a two-month stint reporting on the contents of the leaked US diplomatic cables from London, but was refused entry when his passport was checked on his arrival.
After spending 45 minutes in an airport cell, he was sent back to the UK on the first available plane – with his visa annulled and his passport only returned to him after taking his seat. Harding was given no specific reason for the decision, although an airport security official working for the Federal Border Service, an arm of the FSB intelligence agency, told him: “For you Russia is closed.”
Russia says expelled Guardian journalist for violating accreditation rules
“If Harding is still interested in working in Russia until his entry visa expires, he needs to have accreditation issues settled with the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press and information department,” the ministry said.
Harding has fallen foul of the Russian authorities on a number of occasions, mainly for filing articles claiming Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has a $40 billion offshore account. The journalist was also briefly detained while reporting last year from the volatile North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia.
“We warned him that he had repeatedly violated Russian entry and accreditation regulations,” Lavrov said. “He repeatedly visited a security zone with a counter terrorist operation regime and was notified by the security services that he was supposed to let them know.“
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