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    Categories: 2019

Documents on Integrity Initiative’s operations in Armenia leaked

Panorama, Armenia
Jan 6 2019

The Anonymous hacktivist group published a new batch of documents and invoices, which it says are the evidence of the UK state-funded Integrity Initiative project analyzing the activities of the opposition Labour Party and its leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as the Russian RT broadcaster, with the use of UK taxpayers’ money.

The documents, among other things, concern the activities of the UK's state-funded Integrity Initiative project in Armenia, including a list of disloyal journalists, publications timetable, contacts' list and payment documents.

As Sputnik Agency reports, the documents include a timetable of activities of the Institute for Statecraft, which funds Integrity Initiative, for March-June 2016, including a list of media publications on Russia and its alleged negative role in the world. The batch also featured an article by a researcher, Eduard Abrahamyan, on the recent protests in Armenia, called "Moscow Worries Armenian ‘Velvet Revolution’ Could Lessen Its Leverage Over Yerevan".

The hackers also published an invoice for a payment of 250 pounds ($329) to this researcher, which reads that he has "briefed the audience about the ongoing dynamics of Armenia’s domestic and foreign policy".

One of the documents, released by Anonymous on 4 January, is a report on the coverage of the recent protests in Armenia, showing that the Integrity Initiative’s staff emphasized Russia’s alleged negative role in them. Moreover, the comments and examples of the publications include their criticism toward journalists who covered the protests from the pro-Russian point of view.

The hackers also leaked a list of "activists in Armenia that contribute to Russian interests, propagandizing and promoting Russia’s official posture and intentions, while positioning themselves as ‘analysts’, ‘experts’, ‘politicians’".

Babken Chilingarian: