FSB Officer Stole Money of Armenian Newspaper

The head of the Russian-Armenian newspaper, Third Force Plus, has sent an open letter to the director of the Russian FSB Bortnikov with a request to invoke the responsibility of the organization's employee, Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Pozdyshev.

In July 2011, Pozdyshev was dismissed from his service in the FSB for the embezzlement of newspaper funds, which were kept in the Moscow Alpha Bank and earned by the international team of the edition.

"FSB punished him for theft and robbery of the journalists and even forbade him to travel abroad from the Russian Federation, but they did not return our money and, to put it mildly, are not in a hurry to. Moreover, the offender is engaged in employment and transferred to work at RBEGROUP as head of the analytical department," the letter said.

As a result, the newspaper was forced to suspend its activities, and numerous complaints by journalists to the FSB remained unanswered.

Employees of the newspaper are again turning to the head of FSB with a call to complete the investigation of this case and to restore justice.

"We are not leaving the bright belief that Armenia's integration into the Customs, Eurasian and other unions, day and night promoted by the Russian Embassy in Yerevan, and starting with theft and the closure of independent Armenian media, is no more than an unfortunate misunderstanding and not a deliberate policy of infringement of rights and freedoms of the citizens of Armenia.

We inform you also that we will not tolerate criminal lawlessness of your employees with artificial delay to resolve the issue, which the Russian FSB has been demonstrating for more than two years, despite all the hints and threats from the Russian Embassy in Armenia," is said in a message which was signed by the executive director of the newspaper Nelson Sargsyan and deputy editor Irina Marutian. -02D-