A constitutional court Tuesday approved a petition by Manana Aslamazian, the former director of Internews Russia, ruling that article 188.1 of the criminal code, limiting the amount of currency that can be brought into the country, is unconstitutional. Internews Russia was closed in April 2007 after Aslamazian was charged with contraband under the article.
“We welcome the constitutional court’s decision and we now look forward to the withdrawal of all legal proceedings against Aslamazian,” Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières said.
Aslamazian was questionned on arrival at Moscow airport on January 21, 2007 because she was found to be in possession of 9,550 euros in cash, while article 188.1 limits the amount of currency that can be brought into the country to 10,000 dollars or its equivalent in other currencies.
The police subsequently used this as grounds for searching the offices of Internews Russia, an NGO that trained journalists, and seizing its accounts. The NGO was forced to close on April 18, 2007. Aslamazian thereafter left Russia and took up residence in France.
The constitutional court ruled Tuesday that someone would have to exceed the permitted amount by at least 250,000 rubles (about 10,000 dollars) for a crime to be committed, and that in Aslamazian’s case, only a fine could be imposed.
Aslamazian told RSF she was pleased with the court’s decision and hoped the proceedings against her would be dropped quickly. Her lawyer, Viktor Parshutkin, said he would request that the case be closed.
