Natalia Morari

*** We were delighted to learn that on 11 November 2009 all charges against Natalia Morari were officially dropped. For more information, please click here. ***

D.o.b: 12 January 1984

Profession: Investigative journalist

Charges: Morari was reportedly charged with 'calls for organising and staging mass disturbances', and could face up to eight years in prison.

The charges stem from a protest organised by Morari, aged 25, and a group of activists which took place at the Great National Square in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital, on 7 April 2009. The protest was coordinated using text messages on mobile phones, and the Twitter and Facebook networks. Its objective was to hold a 'day of mourning' after the results of the 5 April parliamentary elections were made public. Initially, the organisers thought the demonstration would gather several hundreds people, and informed the authorities accordingly, on 6 April. However, on the 'day of mourning' over 10,000 people had joined the demonstration. At around midday the protest turned violent, and hours later the riots were controlled by the authorities allegedly with excessive use of force. International commentators have named the events as the "Twitter Revolution".

   Natalia Morari (Source: unimedia.md) 

Morari has told the press that she had not wanted or expected the violence, but praised the courage of young people in coming onto the streets to protest against the election irregularities. In spite of the charges against her, Morari continues to report on European issues for The New Times.

Background: Natalia Morari had been living and working as an investigative journalist in Russia for the Moscow based The New Times. She writes on contentious issues such as corruption and money laundering. She is described by a colleague as "a rising star" in the dangerous world of Russian investigative reporting, and is well known to free expression activists in Russia and abroad. In late 2007, Morari published a number of reports on political irregularities within the Kremlin and corruption inside the Russian intelligence services, the FSB. As can be seen by the murders of journalists in Russia, such writings expose the authors to enormous risk. The New Times has lost advertising revenue as advertisers pull out, fearing repercussions.

In December 2007 Morari was barred from entering Russia on her return from an assignment in Israel. She was held in Domodedovo airport in Moscow overnight before being deported to Moldova, her home country. Two weeks later she was informed that she would no longer be allowed to enter Russia under Article 27 (1) of Law No 114 that states that a non Russian citizen would be barred from entering Russia if considered "a threat for national security, defence capacity of the state, public order and public health of Russian citizens". In February 2008, Morari married Ilya Barabanov, a Russian citizen who is also an investigative journalist for The New Times. When the couple attempted to return to Russia together, Morari was refused entry. Barabanov now lives in Russia, visiting Morari in Moldova every two to three weeks. In early May 2009 it was reported that the Moldovan Court of Appeals had released Morari from house arrest. She is free to leave her home, but cannot leave the country.

Honorary Member: English PEN, Cuban Writers in Exile PEN

Writing: Natalia Morari is now regularly blogging for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. To read Natalia's blog, please click here.  

Further information:

First article written by Natalia Morarin after the April 2009 protest
New York Times

Amnesty International
Wikipedia's page summarising her background
Natalia Morari's blog (in Russian)