ACTIVIST’S VISA ANNULLED.

Three German human rights activists were stopped on arrival in Russia and prevented from continuing their planned trip to Chechnya–a trip to which the Chechnya’s pro-Moscow Kadyrov administration had agreed. As soon as journalist Guenther Wallraff, former Minister of Labor Norbert Bluem and humanitarian relief organizer Rupert Neudeck landed at Moscow’s Sheremetevo airport on January 7, a security agent told Wallraff that his visa was being annulled and that he would have to return to Germany immediately. In solidarity with Wallraff, his two companions flew back to Germany with him. A Russian Foreign Ministry source later told Interfax that Wallraff was traveling on a tourist visa, which does not give one the right to engage in journalistic activities.