Remember Natalia Morari (Morar)?  She was once one of Russia’s most intrepid young investigative journalists, working for the news magazine the New Times.  She uncovered a few blockbuster stories about connections between an Austrian bank, a money laundering scheme which may or may not have been related to the government, and the murder of central banker Anderi Kozlov (we posted translations of both pieces).  Her reward for these journalistic achievements was not a Pulitzer-like prize, but rather expulsion from the country back to Moldova.  In an interview with Grigory Pasko for this blog, Morari says that she believes she was exiled in relation with her investigative reporting on corruption, where she named names like Bortnikov, Sobyanin, and Surkov.

Now Morari is back, right in the middle of all the Moldova protests, as the leader of the ThinkMoldova democratic action youth group.  openDemocracy is carrying an interesting translation of one of  her blog pieces which is well worth reading.  I came across this article thanks to a comment posted by Sean Guillory over on Scraps of Moscow – Lyndon Allen’s blog – which is currently offering some of the best coverage on these events in Moldova (Lyndon is apparantely in Chisinau right now).  Thanks and keep up the good work!