Natalia Morar, a 23-year-old Moldovan journalist writing for the analytical weekly New Times, spent a second day trapped in the transit zone at Domodedovo Airport on 28 February 2008 after Russian border officials denied her entry and declared her a security threat.
Morar holds Moldovan citizenship, which normally entitles her to visa-free travel to Russia. She said she and her husband had been under watch by three border guards, and the two physically linked themselves together to resist being forcibly removed. She refused deportation back to Moldova and demanded the FSB explain the grounds for her exclusion.
She told Moscow's Echo radio that the stress had worsened an existing kidney condition; medical assistance was eventually provided.
She attributed the ban to an article she published in December, which described how the Kremlin channeled funding to political parties ahead of that month's parliamentary elections. Russian authorities had already barred and deported her once before, also in December.
Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists both condemned the action. The CPJ said colleagues had been held "two days without access to a lawyer," while RSF demanded her immediate readmission to Russia.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in February 2008, in its own words.