Russia
Newspaper raided and harassedPosted Oct 25 2006
Permsky Obozrevatel, an independent business weekly based in Perm, reported an August raid by more than 20 armed men in camouflage uniforms and masks who confiscated computers, electronic equipment, memory cards, diskettes, accounting records, and employees' documents. The newspaper reported a similar raid in May. The men conducting the raids showed Federal Security Service ID cards, and cited Article 283 of the Penal Code concerning the disclosure of state secrets as the reason for the visits. Tatyana Sokolova, editor-in-chief,, said the newspaper had been under pressure since 2005. Distributors and printing houses have been asked not to work with the newspaper; it was recently discovered that its current printer had been warned to discontinue printing Permsky Obozrevatel. The International Press Institute said, “Sokolova believes the harassment and intimidation are connected with the paper's work, as the newspaper has published articles critical of local authorities. Nor does she rule out the possibility that the raid may be connected with upcoming elections to the regional parliament.”
http://www.freemedia.at/cms/ipi/statements_detail.html?ctxid=CH0055&docid=CMS1155896713927