| By ANNE NIVAT
Its a Friday night, 6 p.m., pitch black, minus-22 degrees
Fahrenheit. Im back in my hotel room in Vladimir, a small
town 200 kilometers from Moscow, when I get a call from the
receptionist asking me to come downstairs. She has something
to ask me. Strangely, she refuses to speak on the phone and
wants me to come to her.
When I see the five stern-looking men standing by the counter
at reception, I realize that I should have stayed in my room.
Two of them introduce themselves, badges in hand, as agents
from the Federal Migration Service (F.M.S.). Papers, please.
In Russia, foreigners must register with the police at every
stop during their travels; hotels take care of the paperwork.
I know the rule and follow it, but apparently thats not good
enough this time.
Looking over my passport, one of the agents grumbles, You
broke the law. What law? No answer. The two henchmen are
getting impatient. Well, if you want to know, youll have
to follow us. It wont take long.
Do I really have a choice? I get into an unmarked car. Ten
minutes later, we arrive at the F.M.S. station; I wont be
let out of it until a little bit before midnight, four hours
of interrogation later. A little boss introduces himself
they wont take me to the big boss, a colonel, until papers
need to be signed.
He is standing; Im seated. With every statement, he lifts
off his heels; the man looks down on me with all his arrogance.
Judging by your visa, the stated purpose of your visit in
Russia does not match your real activities. What real activities?
I dare to ask in return.
He fires back, You are meeting with members of the opposition.
Flummoxed, Im left speechless for a moment. But I realize
he isnt kidding. Never in 10 years of reporting in post-Soviet
Russia including during the eight years I spent living here
and covering the war in Chechnya have the authorities faulted
me for something with such grave consequences. The official
says that Ill have to pay a fine, to be determined by the
colonel. My visa will be canceled immediately, and Ill be
given a transit document requiring that I leave the country
within three days. Not once is the word journalist uttered.
And you think youre getting objective information by meeting
with members of the opposition? a young investigator named
Yuri asks, emphasizing objective. He is part curious, part
moralizing. In the face of my interrogators blind zeal, I
am careful not to raise the tension of this ridiculous situation
by asking pointed questions. But I cant help myself from
commenting on his last remark. Im not looking for objectivity.
In Russia, as elsewhere, everyone has a point of view. Its
that diversity Im interested in!
Yes, I spent the previous day with the local representative
of the liberal party Yabloko, and a few days earlier I met
Yabloko representatives, as well as Communists in Petrozavodsk,
the capital of the Republic of Karelia, about 1,000 kilometers
north. Is that forbidden?
According to our information, in Petrozavodsk, you met this
person at this time at this address, the investigator whispers,
revealing that I was followed as soon as I arrived in Karelia.
Once Im back in Paris, I find out that my misadventure is
already widely known: A friend, a Russian writer I saw the
day before I left Moscow, has written about it on his Facebook
page. I am assailed by the Russian media.
That evening, at a press conference in Moscow, the director
general of the F.M.S. admits his agency made mistakes and
announces the creation of an investigating team. The next
day, the colonel who had signed my sanction with a sullen
face resigned.
Three days later I get a phone call at home in Paris: Its
the Russian ambassador to France. First, he wishes to apologize
for the misunderstanding. Then, he assures me that I may
come pick up a new visa at my convenience.
I have no idea why the officials in Vladimir behaved the
way they did. Were they acting on instructions? Was I the
victim of a coincidence? Were they simply checking up on
what I was doing, or did they want to frighten me? Both?
In any event, the excess of zeal of those careerist provincial
officials backfired. They were quickly repudiated by superiors
in the Kremlin who are wary of seeing Russias image tarnished
(too much).
I will probably never know the truth and I dont seek it.
But this curious mix of confusion and intimidation measures,
which are necessarily unpleasant, reveals the workings of
the new Russia on the eve of a major election an election
that no doubt will bring Vladimir Putin another six-year term
as president.
Anne Nivat is a freelance war reporter who continues
to travel across the former Soviet Union, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Her latest book published in English is The Wake of War:
Encounters With the People of Iraq and Afghanistan.
See also:
The
original publication
Presidential
Elections 2012
Freedom
of Speech
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