Feedback On December 6th, 2011, Bijan Musavi, citizen of Iran, was arrested during protests at the Gostiny dvor square. He and other arrestees were transferred to the police departments and then to the court which sentenced Bijan for a fair.
On December 12th, he received a request to come to the Migration Service Department. A few days later, on December 16th, he disappeared. He told his coursemates that he is being taken somewhere by policemen, then the connection was broken. Worried coursemates started calling police departments, migration service and detention centre. They also called the volunteers from the supporting groups in the social networks. In the evening of December 16th, the workers of ADC Memorial also learned about the situation with the foreign student and were asked to help. The employees of ADC Memorial called the press service of the Federal Migration Service, the police department who arrested the student and the Detention centre. Nobody gave any information about the foreign student. Later the father of Bijan called and said that he was reported his son had been deported, but was not given any clear information were Bijan is now. Taking into account such fast and secret deportation which looks more like kidnapping, the illegal basis of such activities of the Russian law-enforcement agencies and migration service raises serious doubts.
Later the fact of deportation was confirmed: Bijan was transferred from St Petersburg to Moscow and then, on December 18th, deported to Iran. According to the decision on deportation, he is prohibitted to enter Russia during next 5 years, so probably he is unable to continue studies in St Petersburg.
To appeal against the decision, ADC Memorial is trying to find a contact with the applicant and his relatives. A request to provide copies of all documents: visa, student card and education contract was sent to Bijan.
The lawyers, experts on issues of migration, state that this kind of deportation is illegal. It has already happened that unmotivated decisions made not by courts and based on “undesirability” of a person staying in Russia were the means of repression on a basis of discriminatory (for example, prosecution of HIV-positive people) or political (for example, persecution of foreigners for their public activities) motives. In this case the status of a foreign citizen allowed the authorities to use deportation as a means of repressions for participation in a demonstration. Such activities violate international norms and principles. ADC Memorial has already stated that the use of status of foreign citizen for political purposes is inadmissible (in regard to citizens of Tajikistan in the case of diplomatic crisis). Now we are facing with anagogic individual measures which are inadmissible as any political persecutions.