Georgia Suspects Russia Drugged Journalist

[Snazzy]

Georgia Suspects Russia Drugged Journalist

1 hour, 51 minutes ago

By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI, Associated Press Writer

TBILISI, Georgia - Test results indicate Russian authorities drugged a Georgian journalist who was detained covering the school standoff in southern Russia, a medical expert said, raising new concern about allegations the government tried to hinder coverage of the crisis.



Nana Lezhava and another journalist from Georgia's independent Rustavi-2 television were detained Friday in Beslan, the site of the school siege. They were accused of violating visa rules when they entered Russia from neighboring Georgia and prevented from covering the aftermath of the tragedy.


The head of the oversight board at a Georgian drug research institute, Gela Lezhava, told a news conference Thursday that urine samples taken from Lezhava showed traces of tranquilizers. He said he suspects the journalist was drugged by Russian authorities.


The tests were conducted at the request of Rustavi-2, which aired an interview with the journalists Wednesday in which she said that after drinking coffee in a holding cell, she slept for 24 hours and woke up feeling weak. Both journalists were later released and returned to neighboring Georgia.

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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040910/ap_on_re_eu/georgia_russia_media_1

[drhilarius]

1. Our journalists have been drugged for the last 4 years.

[FlaIndie]

2. The Bush response

"I can't believe they would drug a reporter from the fine state of Georgia!"