Convicted Afghan migrants ask not to be sent home
[ad_1]
The Kirov District Court of St. Petersburg sentenced 12 citizens of Afghanistan to two years in a penal colony under Part 3 of Art. 322 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for illegal border crossing while attempting to illegally move from Russia to Europe in 2022 through one of the St. Petersburg ports. Taking into account the time spent in the pre-trial detention center, all of them were released from serving their sentences. Most of the migrants who appeared before the court, fearing possible subsequent deportation, asked not to be sent to Afghanistan, since their lives there were in danger from the Taliban movement (recognized as terrorist and banned in the Russian Federation). The defense of Cobra Hassani, in particular, insisted on this. 27-year-old Ms. Hassani said that until 2021 she worked at one of the Afghan television channels and actively fought for women’s rights.
In May 2022, FSB officers detained 12 Afghan citizens in St. Petersburg. According to investigators, it was planned to illegally transport them to Europe through one of the St. Petersburg ports. The organizer of the scheme was named Belarusian citizen Alexander Matsulevich, who was charged under four articles of the Criminal Code, including giving a bribe on an especially large scale – $6 thousand – to a representative of the FSB border service (Part 5 of Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). During the investigation, the accused admitted guilt. However, at the trial, which took place in the Kirov District Court of St. Petersburg, Mr. Matsulevich’s lawyer argued that his client was only an intermediary in the transfer of money, and there are third parties in the case that the investigation did not identify. The defense asked that the principal be sentenced below the minimum limit. The state prosecutor insisted on ten years in prison. As a result, the court, finding Alexander Matsulevich guilty, sentenced him to four years in a maximum security penal colony.
According to investigators, a group of people who wanted to move to Europe was gathered by Afghan Jelani Ghulam. However, he denied guilt, insisting that he only accompanied the only woman in the group of migrants, Cobra Hassani. At the same time, the defendant’s lawyer emphasized, he did not assume that the trip was organized illegally. The prosecutor asked to sentence Jelani Ghulam to 3.3 years in prison. The court imposed a sentence of two years in a penal colony, but Mr. Gulam was released from serving the sentence, taking into account the time spent in a pre-trial detention center.
The remaining citizens of Afghanistan were found guilty of attempting to illegally cross the border as part of a group of persons by prior conspiracy (Part 3 of Article 322 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; maximum term – five years in prison) – they were given the same punishment as Jelani Gulam. Taking into account the time spent in the pre-trial detention center, all of them are released from serving their sentences. During the last word, the participants in the failed illegal trip said that they regretted what happened and asked not to be deported to Afghanistan. Some argued that their lives were in danger in their homeland. Thus, musician Rahim Jan, pointing to the prosthesis, addressed the court: “I don’t have one leg (according to him, the Taliban shot him in the leg as a child.— “Kommersant”), there is no physical opportunity to hide from the Taliban in the mountains. I ask you not to deport me or give me time to choose another country to live.”
However, Cobra Hassani may be in such danger more than others, her defense insists. 27-year-old Ms. Hassani, according to her, worked on one of the Afghan television channels until 2021. The journalist specialized in social and political topics and advocated for women’s rights. After the Taliban movement came to power (recognized as terrorist and banned in the Russian Federation), she fled the country and ended up on the territory of Ukraine. Here she entered the Faculty of Economics of Kyiv State University. In February 2022, after the start of a special military operation, Ms. Hassani says, she interrupted her studies and decided to move to the European Union. However, she said she was sent to Russia instead. “This is a crime that I did not want to commit,” the Afghan journalist said in court. “I was deceived. During the time that I have been under investigation, I have realized everything and I apologize.” She repeated several times that she would be killed in Afghanistan.
In May 2023, the Kirov District Court already sentenced Ms. Hassani to forced deportation due to the lack of documents permitting stay in Russia (Part 3.1 of Article 18.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). In court, the girl explained that she wanted to go to Poland, “made an agreement in Ukraine with a taxi driver, and he brought her to Russia.” “I could not explain how and by which way I crossed the border,” the court decision says. The deportation was postponed due to the criminal trial. Ms. Hassani spent the first year after her arrest in a pre-trial detention center, then she was transferred to the Temporary Detention Center for Foreign Citizens in Krasnoye Selo (TSVSIG). On February 14, a trial is scheduled to take place to extend the detention of Cobra Hassani in the TsVSIG. Cobra Hassani’s lawyer, Elena Fadeeva, said after the hearing on Tuesday that the defense now intends to “deal with the issue of deportation.”
[ad_2]
Source link