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.
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