The British Council on Thursday denounced a Russian "campaign of intimidation," which it said had made it impossible to continue operating in two Russian cities.
he statement from the the British Council came after Russian authorities briefly detained the head of the council's St. Petersburg office this week and summoned local staff from the St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg offices for interviews.
The council said security officials also visited the staff at their homes.
"The interviews had little do do with their work and were clearly aimed at exerting undue pressure on innocent individuals," British Council Chief Executive Martin Davison said. "Our paramount consideration is the well-being of our staff and I feel we cannot continue our work without significant risk to them."
Davison said the British Council had suspended operations in both cities because Russia had made it impossible for them to continue operating.
The British Council is the cultural arm of the British Embassy and works to promote relations between Britain and Russia in education, science and the arts. It has offices in Moscow and several other Russian cities.
This month, Russia's Foreign Ministry ordered the St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg offices to shut, saying they were operating illegally and avoiding paying taxes.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Thursday that the British Council had complied with all tax laws and that Russia had failed to substantiate its allegations. He called Moscow's actions "reprehensible."
Miliband said 20 Russian members of the British Council staff had been summoned for interviews, and 10 were interviewed late at night at their homes after calls from the Russian tax police.
"These Russian citizens have chosen to offer their skills and hard work to promote cultural contact between the people of Russia and the UK," Miliband said. "As a result, they have been the subject of blatant intimidation from their own government.
"'Mr. Speaker, I think the whole House will agree that such actions are reprehensible."
Davison said it was wrong to draw the British Council, a cultural organization, into an international political dispute.
"I am bitterly disappointed that the Russian authorities have sought to limit our cultural and educational links at the very time when they can be of the most value," Davison said.
The dispute with the British Council is the latest in a diplomatic tit-for-tat that has been escalating since late 2006, when former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko was fatally poisoned in London.
Britain requested the extradition of its prime suspect in the case, Moscow-based businessman Andrei Lugovoi, but Russia refused to hand him over. Britain then expelled Russian diplomats from London, leading Russia to expel British diplomats from Moscow.
Last month, Russian authorities nearly pulled an exhibition of art from Russian museums that had been scheduled to open in London. The show went ahead after the British government sped up legislation guaranteeing the art's return.
Miliband said Russian officials have said privately that the actions stem from the Litvinenko murder.
"We regard as entirely separate issues Mr. Litvinenko's murder and the activities of the British Council," Miliband said.
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