FSB ACCUSES POLITKOVSKAYA OF WORKING FOR SOROS MONEY IN CHECHNYA
The regional operations headquarters for the antiterrorist operation in Chechnya has accused “Novaya gazeta” journalist Anna Politkovskaya of using her reporting trips to the republic to resolve her own financial problems, ntvru.com reported on 20 February, quoting Ekho Moskvy radio. Ilya Shabalkin, a representative of the Center for Public Relations of the Federal Security Service, charged that each of Politkovskaya’s trips arouses “unhealthy sensationalism.” He also reported that last year “Novaya gazeta” signed an agreement with the Soros Fund to participate in a project called “Hot Spots” for which it received $55,000. According to the website, military officials in Chechnya earlier accused Politkovskaya of trying to attract the attention of the public and media to further her own celebrity. Meanwhile, “Novaya gazeta” Deputy Editor in Chief Sergei Sokolov explained that “various officials in the federal forces and special services have expressed hostility — to put it mildly — toward” Politkovskaya. He continued that “she has received various threats and even had to leave the country” (see “RFE/RL Newsline,” 15 and 26 October 2001). Meanwhile, Soros officials told “Kommersant-Daily” on 21 February that Politkovskaya’s journalistic activities have nothing to do with the grant. JAC
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