Russian provider terminates its services to Georgian nationals

Following on from the transport blockade of Georgia, the Russian authorities have launched a campaign against members of the Georgian community in the Russian Federation.

The company GarantHost.Ru has announced that it has stopped providing its hosting services to Georgian nationals’ websites.  On the corporate blog of their website it notifies that since 3 October 2006, as well as stopping servicing a number of Internet sites belonging to Georgians, GarantHost has terminated its cooperation with Georgian freelancers and web-studios.

The message on the blog states that the company “has on many occasions confirmed its active social policy and civic position”, and is imposing repressive measures against the Georgian community “in connection with their fierce anti-Russian policy”.  This message caused a stir among visitors to the blog with around 200 commentaries being left accusing the company’s employees of inadequate behaviour and of violating the Russian Constitution. 

Representatives of the company were forced to react to the wave of responses from visitors and published an explanation for their decision.  GarantHost’s founders stated that they were not nationalists and claimed that they were refusing to provide their services “to only some clients” “carrying out active anti-Russian policy which thus fuels inter-ethnic enmity”. The statement then asserts that the Georgians violated the provisions of the agreement on providing services and that therefore the services would no longer be provided.

How the conditions were violated by 16 web-sites who have been denied services, as well as 2 freelancers and one Georgian web studio, neither the original message nor the commentaries makes clear. However, according to an employee of GarantHost “Georgian citizens who have not broken the rules for using the hosting services, are still using the service”, Lenta.ru reported.