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| Europe |
| Finn publisher vows to continue Chechnyan activities after aquittal |
| 2011-05-16 |
| The publisher of the Kavkaz Center website is vowing to continue his work after being acquitted by a Finnish court on May 9 for illegally bringing Chechen asylum seekers into the country. Finnish entrepreneur and activist Mikael Storsjo admitted to arranging plane tickets for Chechens to come to Finland, but a Helsinki court found he didn't do it for personal gain, therefore he committed no crime under local laws. Storsjo serves as chairman of the Pro-Caucasus Society, which publishes the Kavkaz Center website, often used by insurgents to post news and commentary. Storsjo, who admits no editorial control over the site and claims to only provide web-hosting services, says he is the victim of a harassment campaign by the Kremlin. Storsjo says that his house was broken into recently. He says he and his family have received death threats by members of the Finnish Anti-Fascist Committee as well as Russian and Estonian members of Nashi, a pro-Kremlin youth organization. Critics charge Kavkaz Center with supporting terrorism. Members of the Finnish Anti-Fascist Committee claim that the Chechens Storsjo has brought to Finland are terrorists. Storsjo counters that of the more than 70 asylum seekers he has helped bring in to Finland all but one, whose claim is still being processed, have been cleared by the Finnish government. British journalist Phil Rees says that Kavkaz Center has complex political leanings: "They're certainly not terrorists I mean, absolutely, OK, no way, but there's this whole vague area of, if you support a cause, at what point does that support for the cause spill over, you know, to supporting people whose actions you may disapprove of?" Storsjo acknowledges the website's leanings, but stresses he has no influence over the site's editorial policy. Kavkaz Center editors would not respond to a request for comment. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 Useful idiot. |
| Posted by: gr(o)mgoru 2011-05-16 02:02 |