A reporter for the UK’s Guardian has been denied re-entry to Russia after a two-month absence.
Luke Harding, who is the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, was told he could not enter Russia after two months away reporting on Wikileaks.
According to the Guardian, Harding’s reporting on Wikileaks included “allegations that Russia under the rule of Vladimir Putin had become a “virtual mafia state“.
The Guardian also says that they believe it is the first expulsion of a journalist from Russia since the end of the Cold War. The newspaper further reports:
After spending 45 minutes in an airport cell, he was sent back to the UK on the first available plane – with his visa annulled and his passport only returned to him after taking his seat. Harding was given no specific reason for the decision, although an airport security official working for the Federal Border Service, an arm of the FSB intelligence agency, told him: “For you Russia is closed.” The tightly controlled nature of Russian politics means the expulsion is likely to have been ordered at a very senior level, but the British government has so far been unable to find out any more details about the decision.