Russian Newspaper Reporter Detained 11 hours ago MOSCOW (AP) - Authorities have detained a journalist from a widely respected newspaper on suspicion of extorting money from a government official, the newspaper said Thursday.
The daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta said it suspected the accusation and the detention were a "provocation" by authorities seeking to pressure independent media before parliamentary elections in December and the presidential vote in March 2008. "A planned provocation is taking place with the aim of putting pressure on the independent press during the election campaign," it said. In a statement on its Web site, the newspaper said its employee was detained Wednesday, and that authorities claimed he was caught receiving money from an Agriculture Ministry official. The newspaper did not identify the employee. An investigative unit of the Interior Ministry said the detainee was the newspaper's deputy editor and that he was detained on suspicion of extorting $30,000 in monthly payments from a senior Cabinet official, Russian news reports said. The suspect threatened to divulge information compromising the official if he refused to make payments, the unit was quoted as saying. The newspaper said the journalist was accused of extorting money from Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev, and it insisted its employee was innocent. On the day of the detention, Nezavisimaya Gazeta published a front page report criticizing Gordeyev for releasing unsubstantiated harvest forecasts that led to a rise in grain prices. "It's absurd to see such publications as extortion," it said. It said that it has published numerous articles critical of the government and would continue to do so. "If the arrest of our employee is an attempt to influence the newspaper's editorial policy, it's useless," Nezavisimaya Gazeta said. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gH3mkJ3iDUqAadufB8hsIPflGuDw
