Luke Harding

Luke Harding
Luke Harding at Senate House in 2015
Born	1968
Education	Atlantic College
Alma mater	University College, Oxford
Occupation	Journalist

Luke Daniel Harding (born 1968) is a British journalist working as a foreign correspondent for The Guardian. He was the correspondent of The Guardian in Russia from 2007 until, returning from a stay in the UK on 5 February 2011, he was refused re-entry to Russia and deported back the same day.^[1] The Guardian said his expulsion was linked with his critical articles on Russia,^[2] a claim denied by the Russian government. After the reversal of the decision on 9 February and the granting of a short-term visa, Harding chose not to seek a further visa extension.^[2] His 2011 book Mafia State discusses his experience in Russia and the political system under Vladimir Putin, which he describes as a mafia state.

Early life and career

Harding graduated with an International Baccalaureate diploma from UWC Atlantic College and studied English at University College, Oxford. While there he edited the student newspaper Cherwell. He worked for The Sunday Correspondent, the Evening Argus in Brighton and then the Daily Mail before joining The Guardian in 1996.

He has lived in and reported from Delhi, Berlin, and Moscow, and has covered wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya.^[3] In 2014 he was the recipient of the James Cameron prize for his work on Russia, Ukraine, WikiLeaks, and Edward Snowden.^[4]

Russian expulsion

In February 2011 Harding was refused re-entry into Russia. According to Harding, this made him the first foreign journalist to be expelled from Russia since the end of the Cold War. The Guardian said his expulsion was linked with his unflattering coverage of Russia, including speculation about Vladimir Putin's wealth and Putin's knowledge of the London assassination of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.^[2] The director of Index on Censorship, John Kampfner, said "The Russian government's treatment of Luke Harding is petty and vindictive, and evidence – if more was needed – of the poor state of free expression in that country."^[5] Elsa Vidal, head of the European and Central Asia desk at the media freedom watchdog, was quoted in The Washington Post as saying: "This is a serious and shocking step, unprecedented since the Cold War [...] It's an attempt to force correspondents working for foreign media in Moscow to engage in self-censorship."^[6]

However, on the following day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov explained at a press conference that no visa cancellation had taken place and the problem had been caused by the fact that Harding's visa had expired, a statement disputed by Harding due to his visa being valid until May of that year.^[7] According to Lavrov, Harding had requested an exceptional visa extension until May which was approved. Lavrov also added that Harding had previously broken the rules of his press accreditation by visiting the area of counter-terrorism operations without informing the relevant security authorities.^[8]

The expulsion preceded a visit to Britain by Lavrov, which led to suggestions from Labour MP Chris Bryant that the British government might rescind Lavrov's invitation.^[9] On 9 February Russia reversed the decision not to re-admit him^[2] although it only granted him a short term visa. Harding chose not to seek a further visa and returned to the UK in February. Harding has said that during his time in Russia he was the subject of largely psychological harassment by the Federal Security Service, whom he alleges were unhappy at the stories he wrote.^[10]

WikiLeaks

In 2011, a book written by Harding and David Leigh was published by Vintage Books in the US and Guardian Faber in the UK.^[11] WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy was made into a Hollywood film, The Fifth Estate (2013).

Edward Snowden

Harding's book on Edward Snowden, The Snowden Files (2014), received a glowing review from the New York Times`s Michiko Kakutani,^[12] who noted that it “reads like a le Carré novel crossed with something by Kafka. . A fast-paced, almost novelistic narrative. . .. [The book] gives readers . . a succinct overview of the momentous events of the past year. . . . Leave[s] readers with an acute understanding of the serious issues involved”. Additionally, it received positive reviews from several other major publications, including The Guardian,^[13] the London Review of Books,^[14] and the Washington Post,^[15] as well as a mixed review from The Daily Telegraph's David Blair.^[16] It was adapted into a film, Snowden, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, released in September 2016.

Alexander Litvinenko

In 2016, Harding published A Very Expensive Poison, an account of the murder of the Russian ex-KGB whistle-blower and outspoken Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko. The book garnered a positive response from reviewers, including from the Spectator,^[17] Guardian,^[18] Times,^[19] and London Review of Books;^[20] Robert Fox, writing for the Evening Standard called it 'one of the best political thrillers [he had] come across in years'.^[21]

Works

• The Liar: Fall of Jonathan Aitken, Penguin Books (1997), co-written with David Leigh and David Pallister. An account of how the British politician Jonathan Aitken sued the Guardian newspaper over sleaze allegations and was jailed for perjury.
• WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, Guardian Books (1 February 2011), ISBN 978-0-85265-239-8, co-written with David Leigh. A biography of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy and Daniel Domscheit-Berg's WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange and the World’s Most Dangerous Website was adapted into a screenplay by Josh Singer, and became the film, The Fifth Estate. Co-produced by DreamWorks and Participant Media, it was directed by Bill Condon and starred Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Brühl. It was released on 11 October 2013 in the UK and 18 October 2013 in the US.^[22]
• Mafia State: How One Reporter Became An Enemy Of The Brutal New Russia^a, Random House (NY, 22 September 2011), ISBN 978-0-85265-247-3; Guardian Books (UK, 29 September 2011), ISBN 978-0-85265-247-3. An account of his experience in Russia and interactions with the FSB. The title "mafia state" comes from one of the American diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks.^[23]
• Libya: Murder in Benghazi and the Fall of Gaddafi (20 October 2012), co-written with Martin Chulov. Short e-book, account of the moment of Gaddafi's capture and the current state of Libya.^[24]
• The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man, Vintage Books (NY, 7 February 2014), ISBN 978-0804173520; Guardian Faber Publishing (UK, 6 February 2014), ISBN 978-1783350353. Harding tells Edward Snowden's story from the day he left his girlfriend in Honolulu carrying a hard drive full of secrets, to the weeks of his secret-spilling in Hong Kong, to his battle for asylum and his exile in Moscow.
• A Very Expensive Poison: the Definitive Story of the Murder of Litvinenko is published in March 2016 by Guardian Faber in the UK. ISBN 978-1783350933.

Notes

^a Published in the US as Expelled

References

External links

• Luke Harding on Twitter
  
• Luke Harding at the Internet Movie Database
• Column archives at The Guardian
• Article archive at Journalisted
• Profile at United World Colleges