ST. PETERSBURG, February 14A court in St. Petersburg released from the Temporary Detention Center for Foreign Citizens (TSVSIG) Kobra Hassani, who had been convicted the day before of attempting to illegally enter the European Union through Russia as part of a group of refugees from Afghanistan, the joint press service of the city courts reported.
The Kirov District Court on Tuesday announced the verdict for Afghans who tried to illegally enter the European Union through Russia: the organizer was sentenced to four years in prison, and 12 refugees, including Hassani, and their intermediary received two years in a colony-settlement, but due to the time in the pre-trial detention center, the punishment was already deemed served. Kommersant calls Hassani an Afghan journalist who could face the death penalty in her homeland. Fontanka writes that Hassani fears persecution in Afghanistan because of his human rights activities.
According to the judicial press service, the Krasnoselsky District Court on Wednesday considered the bailiff's petition to extend the period of detention of Hassani in TsVSIG No. 1 of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region for a period of 90 days. The court also considered the petition of Hassani’s defense attorney to terminate the execution of the court order regarding the forced expulsion and detention, as well as the release of Hassani from the TsVSIG.
By a resolution of the Kirov court dated May 24, 2023, Hassani was fined 5 thousand rubles under the administrative article for exceeding the period of stay in Russia. The punishment also included her deportation from the Russian Federation, and Hassani was placed in the TsVSIG.
“The court found that until now, that is, for more than 8 months, citizen of the Republic of Afghanistan Hassani, on the basis of a decision of the judge of the Kirov District Court … dated May 24, 2023, has been kept in the TsVSIG, a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave is in force against her, therefore, her forced deportation from the territory of the Russian Federation is impossible, and the long-term detention of Hassani in the Temporary Detention Center, despite the fact that the period of further detention has not been determined, must be considered as an excessive restriction of her rights and freedoms,” the message says.
As noted, the court did not satisfy the bailiff's petition, but satisfied the defense lawyer's petition. “Hassani has been released from TsVSIG,” concludes the joint press service of the courts of St. Petersburg.