MOSCOW: Russian prosecutors have dropped a high-profile criminal case against the local head of US media training organisation Internews, a lawyer for the group said on Tuesday.

The case against Manana Aslamazian for exceeding a ceiling on how much foreign currency can be brought into the country was seen by critics of the Kremlin as part of a crackdown on the media by then president Vladimir Putin.

However on Tuesday Internews' lawyer, Viktor Parshutkin, said that the case, opened last year, “has been closed.” He cited a June 7 resolution handed to the organization on Monday. —AFP