Clooney denies his fund is targeting Russian journalists

An employee “misspoke” when she said the foundation funded by the Hollywood star is seeking the arrest of media professionals, the actor has claimed

Hollywood star George Clooney has downplayed claims that the foundation he funds alongside his wife, Amal, is planning to seek the arrest of “Russian propogandists.”

The actor was responding after remarks last week by Anna Neistat, legal director of The Docket, one of the projects sponsored by the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ). Neistat claimed her team is working to secure arrest warrants for Russian media professionals for alleged “incitement to genocide” in Ukraine.

“Someone in our foundation misspoke,” read a short message on Monday issued on the foundation’s social media and attributed to Clooney.

“We at the Clooney Foundation would never go after journalists, even if we disagree with them,” the actor added, after noting that his father, Nick, works in the media. “We have a long track record of protecting journalists.”

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According to its chief lawyer, The Docket perceives its approach as more practical than seeking indictments through the International Criminal Court, which typically handles cases of alleged genocide against individuals. Neistat claimed her team is seeking a nation willing to prosecute Russians based on “propaganda of aggressive war.”

Thus far, there has been no such precedent of successful prosecutions, Neistat noted, although several European nations – including Poland, Slovakia, and Moldova – have the relevant laws in place.

At the very least, The Docket could make travel more difficult for targeted individuals, Neistat argued. The group intends to ask a nation that would have the “political will” to issue arrest warrants secretly, so that Russian journalists would “travel to other nations and be arrested there.”

Neistat’s remarks, which she gave in an interview with the Russian-language version of the US government-funded media outlet Voice of America, were hailed by senior Ukrainian officials. Andrey Yermak, the chief of staff to Vladimir Zelensky, called the comments “very important” and said they were aligned with Kiev’s aims to sanction “Russian propagandists.”

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called The Docket’s legal team “madmen” for targeting journalists. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said the foundation effectively confessed to “hounding” media professionals with an “ethnically motivated criminal prosecution” campaign.