Press Release

12 June 2013 – Roman Anin, Russian journalist for an independentNovaya Gazeta, has won the prestigious international journalism award for his investigative reporting oа the high-level Russian corruption uncovered by Hermitage lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who was in retribution arrested andkilled in Russian police custody.

“The award to Roman Anin is a testament to his bravery and integrity in the fact of massive corruption in Russia and a tribute to the legacy of Sergei Magnitsky who gave his life for exposing the same crimes and standing up to the same principles and belief for the rule of law and accountability of government officials,” said Hermitage Capital representative.

The 2013 Knight International Journalism Award recognizes excellent reporting that makes a difference in the lives of people around the world, said the International Center for Journalists, making the announcement.

In 2007-2008, Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky uncovered how Russian officials and organised criminals stole $230 million from the Russian budget of the tax revenue paid by his client, Russian companies of the Hermitage Fund. After he reported and gave evidence of the crime, he himself was arrested on trumped-up charges, tortured to retract his testimony, and killed in the Russian Interior Ministry custody at the age of 37. Since his death, Russian authorities have exonerated all officials he named from any wrong-doing.

In 2011, Russian journalist for Novaya Gazeta, Roman Anin, began a series of explosive reports describing how the criminal conspiracy protected by government officials stole budget funds both before the $230 million theft uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky and after, and that these thefts continued even after Sergei Magnitsky’s death and their public exposure, using the same modus operandi. In an article called “Makhaon, Parfenion and He,” published on 28 September 2011, Roman Anin described links from the thefts to senior tax officials subsequently moved to senior positions with the Russian Defence Ministry (http://www.novayagazeta.ru/inquests/48714.html).

In an article published on 1 April 2012, called “VAT”, Roman Anin described how the same officials were involved in even more fraudulent VAT rebates, with the total amount of stolen funds reaching $800 million, and the role of Interior Ministry in abetting them(http://www.novayagazeta.ru/inquests/51924.html).

Roman Anin further uncovered how millions of dollars stolen by the corrupt criminal conspiracy exposed by Sergei Magnitsky were laundered via Russian banks and numerous European jurisdictions, including Austria, Switzerland, Cyprus, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and others (http://www.novayagazeta.ru/inquests/53950.html).

In the article called “Beneficiaries” published on 13 August 2012,  RomanAnin wrote:

“This crime stopped to be an internal affairs for Russia at the momentwhen the first stolen dollar crossed the Russian border and appeared onaccounts of Western banks for legalisation.”(http://www.novayagazeta.ru/inquests/53950.html)

Roman Anin majored in journalism at Moscow State University (MSU) and graduated in 2010. After graduating, he studied at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Science as a Ph.D. candidate in global economics. In 2012, he received three of the most prestigious awards in Russian investigative journalism: the Artem Borovik award, the Youlian Semenov award and the Andrey Sakharov award (http://www.icfj.org/roman-anin).

The 2013 Knight International Journalism Award award is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation which advances transformational ideas that promote quality journalism following the belief that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged.

For further information, please see:

Law and Order in Russia

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia — The Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, voted to approve bills that would ban promoting homosexual “propaganda” to minors and punish those who offend religious believers, on Tuesday.

Before the vote was to take place, hundreds of anti-gay and religious activists and gay-rights activists gathered outside the State Duma, across from the Red Square in Moscow to voice their concerns. Fighting erupted between those that supported the bills and those that did not. Eggs and urine were tossed between the groups, and eventually 20 people were detained by police.

The anti-gay bill, which was approved by the Duma by a unanimous vote of 436 to 0, will imposed fines to individuals who provide information about the LGBT community to minors or who hold gay pride rallies. An individual would be fined up to $156 and organizations would be fined up to $31,000. The bill would also apply to foreigners that come into Russia.

The anti-gay bill is part of a larger Russian effort to promote traditional Russian values as opposed to Western liberalism, as the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church view the latter as corrupting Russian youth and greatly enhancing the protests against Vladimir Putin’s presidency.

The bill was preliminarily approved in January; however legislators then altered the wording of “homosexual propaganda” to “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations.”

As the bill was passed by the Duma, it now needs to be passed by the Federation Council, which is the Russian Senate, and signed by the President. This process is considered a formality, however, and the bill is expected to become law by the end of June.

Hostility and violence towards LGBT communities is common in Russia, and human rights activists believe this bill will contribute to an even greater increase in these incidences.

“The draft law would only raise the level of intolerance in Russian society,” reported Human Rights Watch.

Yelena Mizulina, the head of the Russian State Duma’s Committee for Family, Women, and Children, however, believes that the law is a positive step to protect traditional family values. “[The bill prevents] the spreading of information aimed at forming nontraditional sexual attitudes among children, attractiveness of nontraditional sexual relations, or a distorted perception of social equality between the traditional and nontraditional sexual relations,” she stated.

The Duma also passed a bill Tuesday that would impose prison time on those found to be insulting religious believers. This bill would include prison terms of up to one year and fines of up to $9,000. The bill came to light after members of the punk rock band Pussy Riot sang a ballad against President Putin in a cathedral in Moscow last year.

“This is another step in the attack on the right to freely express your opinion, a right guaranteed by the constitution of the Russian Federation,” a researcher at Human Rights Watch opined.

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera – Russian legislators pass “gay propaganda ban” – 11 June 2013

BBC – Russian Duma passes law banning “gay propaganda” – 11 June 2013

Los Angeles Times – Russian lawmakers move to keep information on homosexuality from kids – 11 June 2013

The Moscow Times – Law on “Homosexual Propaganda” Set for Duma Approval – 11 June 2013

Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty – Russian Duma Passes Ban on “Homosexual Propaganda” – 11 June 2013