Russian journalist alleges censorship over crisis

By Natalya Shurmina

YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) - The editor of a Russian Internet news portal accused authorities on Wednesday of censoring bad news about the financial crisis after prosecutors questioned journalists reporting on troubled banks.

Prosecutors in the Sverdlovsk region in the Ural mountains said they had been ordered to monitor for signs of "information attacks" on banks after reports of liquidity problems sparked a run on several local banks last month.

The probe followed a speech by President Dmitry Medvedev earlier this month in which he urged law enforcement agencies to prosecute anyone maliciously spreading rumors that could cause banks to collapse.

Aksana Panova, editor-in-chief of Internet publication www.ura.ru which is based in the regional capital, Yekaterinburg, said a prosecutor had summoned her for questioning about her sources of information.

"It turns out that there are provocateurs like me who write about the crisis," Panova told Reuters. "This is a throwback to the Soviet Union."

"It's not journalists they should be punishing, but the management of the banks that got into trouble."

"There is a law on the media which regulates my activities. Why is the prosecutor's office putting itself before the law and dictating how I should write?" she said.

An official in the local prosecutor's office told Reuters investigators would also be following what other media report.

"An investigation is under way into cases of information attacks, via the Internet, on credit institutions in Yekaterinburg," said Rimma Bobina. "We are conducting daily monitoring of all media."

Russia has been among the biggest losers from the global financial crisis. Its two main stock markets have lost about 75 percent of their value since peaks in May and the rouble has fallen 15 percent against the dollar in the same period.

But Russia's three national television stations -- which are all either state-owned or controlled by companies in which the state has a major share -- have been muted in their reporting of the financial crisis at home.

Evening news bulletins have run long reports about chaos on markets in Europe and the United States, while domestic reports have focused on Kremlin officials offering assurances that banks and the rouble are safe.

(Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Ralph Boulton)