Two American journalists were briefly detained in Russia and taken to court today for teaching an investigative journalism workshop.
The two were found guilty of violating visa regulations, authorities said.
The New England Center for Investigative Reporting said that its co-founder, Joe Bergantino, and University of South Carolina professor Randy Covington, were detained for several hours by immigration authorities as they began teaching their first workshop in St Petersburg.
The group quoted Bergantino as saying that he and Covington were in Russia for a two-day training workshop with 14 Russian journalists.
The Federal Migration Service in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, said in a statement the men were taken to court and were found guilty of "violating the visa regime" because their activities in Russia "did not correspond to the stated purpose of their visit."
The district court couldn't be immediately reached today.
Bergantino and Covington, who had tourist visas, were told they couldn't continue teaching, but were free to leave the country as scheduled on Saturday, the New England Center for Investigative Journalism said.
According to the organization, the visas that the two journalists held were the type recommended by the US State Department for that visit.
Russian authorities have used visa issues in the past as a pretext to bar the entry for certain individuals to the country.
