The John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships condemns the interrogation and seizure of reporting materials of JSK alumnus Roman Anin, one of Russia’s top investigative journalists.
Anin is editor of iStories, an independent online investigative newsroom, which he developed during his 2018-19 JSK Fellowship. Over the past year, Anin and his team have published investigations of alleged corruption by senior Russian officials.
Last Friday, Federal Security Service (FSB) agents raided Anin’s Moscow apartment for several hours, confiscating cell phones, notebooks, memory sticks and materials from his time as a JSK Fellow at Stanford.
They also have questioned him extensively, both Friday evening and again today. Agents indicated to Anin that they are investigating a 2016 story he did while on the staff of Novaya Gazeta, one of the few independent newspapers in Russia.
JSK joins the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global investigative journalism network of which iStories is a member, and press freedom organizations in speaking out against the Russian government’s actions.
“This is clearly an attempt to intimidate Roman and send a message to other brave, independent investigative journalists in Russia,” said Dawn Garcia, JSK director. “We are deeply troubled by these developments and call for a stop to this harassment.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists today has published details it has gathered about the situation.
Anin was recognized by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) Committee for Journalists with the 2020 Knight Trailblazer Award for launching iStories.