Alexei Devyatkin, an activist of the Russian unregistered opposition party The Other Russia, and his wife journalist Jenny Curpen have been summoned to the Ukrainian Security Service but refuse to go there.
Devyatkin and Curpen are seeking political asylum in Ukraine for fear of
being prosecuted in Russia under the case dealing with public disturbances
during an opposition demonstration on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on May 6.
Devyatkin, who visited a migration service in Kyiv on Friday, received a
telephone call from a man introducing himself as a Security Service major, who
invited him to meet urgently, Dmitry Kolbasin of the Russian human rights
organization Agora told Interfax on Friday.
“From our standpoint, this so-called invitation to the Security Service of
Ukraine means at least the desire to question us on the Razvozzhayev case
[Leonid Razvozzhayev, an opposition activist charged with preparations for mass
disturbances in Russia], find out the number of people staying in Ukraine and
hiding from prosecution in Russia and possibly determine the whereabouts of each
of them,” Kolbasin quoted Curpen as saying.
Corpen said Devyatkin and she were not going to meet with a Security Service
official.
“We immediately contacted lawyers from the Office of the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees for consultations and received a clear answer that the Ukrainian
Security Service has no relation to the procedure of acquiring a refugee status,
and this procedure does not envision communication with any Security Service
bodies,” Curpen said.
Alexander Averin, a spokesman for The Other Russia, told Interfax earlier
that Devyatkin and Curpen had been seeking political asylum in Ukraine for fear
of their criminal prosecution on the events on the Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on
May 6.
Devyatkin had earlier received a suspended conviction on mass disorder
charges, a crime covered by Criminal Code Article 212, for a protest
demonstration that members of the banned National Bolshevik Party arranged at
the reception office of the Russian president.
An opposition march and rally agreed upon with the Moscow administration
called March of Millions that took place on Bolotnaya Square grew into clashes
between the demonstrators and police on May 6. The opposition accused the police
of obstructing the march and the rally, while the police accused the opposition
of deliberate provocation. Over 400 people were detained. Prosecution
authorities opened criminal cases on charges of calls for mass disorder
(Criminal Code Article 212) and violence against law enforcement officials
(Article 318).
