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[PHOTO SOURCE: http://7x7-journal.ru/item/74425]
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Soros charity targeted
in Russia book-burning
A
college in northern Russia has burned 53 books linked to a charity founded by
hedge fund mogul George Soros, according to Russian media, just weeks after the
organization was banned for being a "security threat" by Russian
authorities.
College
libraries in the Russia's northern republic of Komi were searched last month to
find textbooks and manuals related to a project run by Soros' foundation, the
local Russian news site 7x7 reported on Wednesday, citing an official letter
from the regional education ministry.
A
total of 53 books related to the "Renewal of Humanitarian Education"
program were found at the Vorkuta Mining and Economic College, and were later
confiscated and burned, the 7x7 report explained.
An
additional 427 books have been seized for shredding, the letter claimed.
Russian
news reports, including the Moscow Times, went on to reference an
intergovernmental letter released by local media in December, where a
presidential envoy claimed that Soros' charities were "forming a perverted
perception of history and making ideological directives, alien to Russian
ideology, popular."
Russia's
General Prosecutor's Office essentially banned two branches of Soros' charity
network in November, placing the Open Society Foundations (OSF) and the Open
Society Institute (OSI) on a "stop list" of foreign non-governmental
organizations whose activities were deemed "undesirable" by the
Russian state.
OSF
first came into trouble with the Russian government in July 2015, when it
hinted it might ban the foundation along with a number of other pro-democracy
organizations accused of launching "soft aggression" in the country.
Soros,
who is best known for Soros Fund Management, originally founded the OSF network
to help countries transition from communism. The charity now funds project
aimed at democracy building across the globe.
OSF
did not provide a statement as of press time.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://
Russian
College Burns Books Published With Soros Foundation Support
The
Moscow Times
Jan. 14 2016 11:13
Last edited 11:14
Fifty-three textbooks published with the support of the Soros Foundation — an
NGO deemed “undesirable” in Russia last year — were burnt at a college in
Russia's northern republic of Komi, the 7x7 local news website reported
Wednesday, citing an official letter from the regional Education Ministry.
“In December 2015, libraries of colleges [of the republic of Komi] were inspected in order to find educational literature published during the 'Renewal of Humanitarian Education' project of the Soros Foundation,” the letter reads. Such literature was found in two libraries, and in one of them 53 books were confiscated and “destroyed by burning,” the document goes on saying.
According to the director of the college library Yeleva Vasilyeva, the books were burnt in the college yard, 7x7 reported.
In December 2015, Russian media released a scanned copy of a letter from Andrei Travnikov, presidential envoy in the Northwest Federal District, to the deputy chair of the Komi government Tamara Nikolayeva, stating that books printed with the support of the Soros Foundation were “forming a perverted perception of [Russian] history and making ideological directives alien to Russian ideology popular,” — hence subject to confiscation.
In late November 2015, the Soros Foundation was declared “undesirable” in Russia — the Prosecutor General's office stated it was endangering Russia's constitutional order and the country's security. NGOs deemed “undesirable” are obligated to cease operating in Russia.
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