By Country / Russia
Russian Court Overturns Uzbek's Deportation Order
November 03, 2006
November 3, 2006 -- The Moscow City Court today said it has overturned a lower judicial panel's decision to deport Uzbek asylum seeker Rustam Muminov from Russia. The court has ordered that his case be re-examined.
Civic Assistance, a Russian nongovernmental group that provides legal assistance to asylum seekers, says Muminov was forcibly sent back to Uzbekistan on October 24 after being arrested on charges of violating Moscow's residency rules.
Earlier, a court in Russia's central Lipetsk Oblast had ruled against his extradition to his home country and ordered his release. Muminov is wanted in Uzbekistan on religious-extremism charges that he denies.
The ferghana.ru news agency quoted Civic Assistance's Yelena Ryabinina as saying Russian authorities have notified the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights that they have opened a criminal investigation into Muminov's deportation.
The European Court of Human Rights has urged Russia to not deport Muminov.
(Interfax, ferghana.ru)