Journalist Hassani, who fled the Taliban, returned to Kabul after being denied asylum
Afghan journalist Kobra Hassani, who fled the Taliban (the Taliban movement is recognized as terrorist and is banned in Russia), fearing execution, flew back to Kabul. She tried to seek asylum in Russia, but was refused.
As the defense said, the girl flew from Moscow to the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, on June 25. Defenders say they learned about this from representatives of the Afghan diaspora in St. Petersburg.
There were many options to leave, from Albania to Germany. But everything required effort, time, money
According to her colleague Elena Fadeeva, Hassani probably no longer had the strength to stay in Russia and saw no other viable options for herself other than returning to Afghanistan, despite the risks.
In Afghanistan, the girl covered political and social issues and spoke out against the compulsory wearing of the hijab. Hassani worked on television and ran her own restaurant. After the Taliban came to power in the country in 2021, she left for Ukraine, where she entered the university in Kyiv. When the special operation began, she was going to go to a young man in Germany through Poland. Her acquaintances shared with her the contacts of carriers who promised to legally bring her to Poland for money, but, according to the girl’s defense, she was deceived and brought to Russia.
Photo: Andrey Bok / Kommersant
The journalist was detained in Russia in May 2022
Together with other Afghan refugees, she tried to get through St. Petersburg to Europe, but they were detained by Russian law enforcement agencies. A case of attempted illegal border crossing was opened. By versions investigators, it was planned to illegally transport refugees to Europe through one of the St. Petersburg ports. The organizer of the scheme was named Belarusian citizen Alexander Matsulevich, who was charged under four articles of the Criminal Code, including giving a bribe on an especially large scale to a representative of the FSB border service.
Hassani, in turn, said she was unaware of the illegal nature of her attempt to cross the border. The trial began in October 2023. “This is a crime I did not want to commit,” Hassani said in court. “I was deceived. During the time I have been under investigation, I have realized everything and I ask for forgiveness.”
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Hassani denied asylum in Russia
In May 2023, the Kirov District Court sentenced the journalist to forced deportation due to the lack of documents permitting her stay in the Russian Federation. In February, the same court sentenced Kobra Hassani and other defendants in the case to two years in prison, but released them taking into account their time in pretrial detention, and also overturned the court’s decision on deportation.
In January 2024, the girl’s lawyer Elena Fadeeva reportedthat her client was denied temporary asylum, the migration service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs considered that there were no grounds for helping Hassani.
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