New Zealand has refused to grant asylum to a human rights lawyer and academic who spoke out about election fixing in Russia.
Law academic Photo: 123rf
The woman and her two children fear being killed or seriously harmed in Russia by police or state security services after reporting the electoral fraud and because of her involvement in supporting opposition to the Russian government.
They claimed refugee status, but have been told their risk of harm is no more than "remote and speculative".
The 53-year-old, who was a lawyer specialising in civil law and human rights, had worked as a senior university law lecturer and later associate professor, but was forced to resign after she publicised her concerns about voting irregularities.
She was a volunteer monitor at a 2016 election held to elect candidates for the forthcoming state parliamentary elections.
Her 27-year-old son was an observer at a different polling station and saw a large bundle of votes stuffed into a ballot box by an election official. About 400 people had come through the school hall doors to vote, but more than 1200 ballot papers were later counted.
She sent a report to the election supervising committee and she and her son attended a press conference held by a journalist and former parliamentarian at which she confirmed voting irregularities.
She later spoke about it at an academic conference hosted by a government ministry and wrote an article for an academic journal.
The family arrived in New Zealand three years later, with the woman saying the political situation in Russia and silencing of dissenting voices and opinions had worsened. She was concerned her posts, blogs and appearances at protests would lead to consequences for her family if they returned to Russia.
But the refugee status branch, which is part of MBIE, rejected their asylum claim and the Immigration and Protection Tribunal (IPT) has turned down their appeal.
The IPT said it accepted she had "genuine trepidation" about returning to Russia "and that the loss of her university position and academic connections, as a result of her speaking out about fraud during the May 2016 party primary election, has been distressing for her".
"The Tribunal is also satisfied that, if arrested, [she] is likely to face serious harm if she is detained for any length of time, given the available country information as to the conditions and treatment that detainees face in detention facilities and prisons. However, the central issue for the Tribunal is whether there is a real chance that she would be arrested or detained if she was returned to Russia."
An average of 14 Russians have been granted refugee status over the last five years, but only seven since last July. The woman told the tribunal she lost her job and was blacklisted in academic circles.
"She subsequently obtained a position as a teacher at a high school and continued to write academic articles. However none of these articles were accepted for publication in any of the journals her previous articles had been published in," the IPT said.
"Attempts by her to attend academic conferences were blocked. She also sought appointment to another observer role for the subsequent State Duma election. However, this was blocked by the independent election supervising committee."
Her public opposition included internet and social media commentary, and attending a 2020 protest against the poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and Russian interference in Belarus.
A photograph of her at the protest was included in a news report on the Russian language version of the BBC website, and her support of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), included a blog on a Russian language website.
"None of this activity had any serious consequences for her beyond the, understandably distressing, loss of her university teaching position and her exclusion from academic publishing and attendance at academic conferences," said the tribunal.
"The evidence did not establish that the Russian authorities, such as the police and Federal Security Services took any interest in her at any time prior to her departure from Russia.
"While the Tribunal accepts that she is likely to continue to make posts on the internet and social media platforms that are critical of the policies of the present Russian government upon her return to Russia, there is no reason to consider that this will attract particular attention or put her at risk of harm to the real chance level [...] she posted criticism of the policies of state and Russian governments on the internet and social media platforms in Russia for more three years prior to her arrival in New Zealand without being arrested, detained, or suffering serious harm."