Lawyers assess Somryakov’s chances of regaining Russian citizenship

Krasnodar resident Alexander Somryakov, convicted of spreading fake news about the Russian Army, can challenge the decision to deprive him of Russian citizenship, but the prospects for restoring citizenship are doubtful. If Alexander Somryakov retains his second citizenship, he could be deported after his release, lawyers note.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on March 19, it became known that the police sent Alexander Somryakov a notice of termination of his Russian citizenship. Earlier, a court sentenced him to six years of imprisonment.

Alexander Somryakov will become stateless, that is, a stateless person, notes Valeria Vetoshkina, a lawyer for the “OVD-Info”* human rights project. “He will need to obtain a temporary identity card ... While all countries are striving to reduce the number of stateless persons, Russia is increasing their number, including for political reasons,” the lawyer states.

Valeria Vetoshkina emphasizes that Alexander Somryakov is unlikely to be able to obtain Russian citizenship again. The lawyer added that in case if Alexander Somryakov does not have a second citizenship, then he cannot be deported anywhere after his release from prison.

According to the notice reporting that Alexander Somryakov, whose photograph was published by the “Politzek-info” Telegram channel, was deprived of Russian citizenship, the man is a citizen of Moldova.

The withdrawal of Alexander Somryakov’s Russian citizenship is illegal, lawyer Artyom Mugunyants believes. “In our country, the Constitution states that a person cannot be deprived of Russian citizenship. However, in violation of the Russian Constitution, a law has been passed according to which acquired citizenship can be withdrawn. That is, if a person was born a citizen of the Russian Federation, he or she cannot be deprived of Russian citizenship ... It is clear that this law violates human rights,” lawyer Artyom Mugunyants states.

According to him, Alexander Somryakov will no longer be able to become a Russian citizen. “He has a criminal record under the article that does not provide for the possibility of obtaining Russian citizenship,” the lawyer notes.

Human rights defenders are monitoring Alexander Somryakov’s fate, notes Sergey Davidis, the head of the “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial” independent human rights project. The human rights defender suggests it should be expected that there will be more cases similar to Alexander Somryakov’s one in the future.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.