Famous human rights activist detained at Sheremetyevo Airport

FSB employees detained migrant rights defender Valentina Chupik and banned her from entering Russia until 2051.

Photo: Internet

Valentina Chupik, head of the non-profit organization “Tong Jahoni” (“Morning of Peace”), which assists migrants, was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport. She managed to inform “Novaya Gazeta” and “Mediazona” about her detention. “I am sitting in a special detention facility at Sheremetyevo Airport, terminal F. It is unknown where they will take me, as they have confiscated my documents,” Valentina Chupik reported.

Around 2 a.m. on September 25, FSB officers detained Valentina Chupik at Sheremetyevo Airport, confiscated her documents, and sent her to a special detention facility at the airport. According to Chupik, after her detention, FSB officers handed her a notification of the revocation of her refugee status in Russia and banned her from entering the country until 2051.

“Novaya Gazeta” reports that Chupik was only able to provide the newspaper with photographs of the documents handed to her by FSB officers, and after that, communication with her was interrupted.

Chupik is originally from Uzbekistan and may likely be deported to that country. She was forced to flee Uzbekistan in 2005 after the events in Andijan, when authorities shot at peaceful protesters. According to human rights activists, more than 500 people died during that incident.

At that time, Chupik also suffered; she claims to have been tortured by officers of the National Security Service of Uzbekistan. Three years after moving to Russia, she obtained refugee status. Chupik has lived in Moscow for many years, providing free legal assistance to migrants facing pressure from law enforcement and other issues.

According to “Mediazona,” since September 17, Chupik has been stripped of her refugee status. The reason was allegedly the submission of false information or forged documents for recognition as a refugee (subparagraph 2 of paragraph 2 of Article 9 of the law “On Refugees”).

The Russian authorities have not yet officially commented on the detention of the human rights defender.

This is not the first case where human rights defenders in Russia face pressure from law enforcement to cease their activities or expel some from the country.

In 2017, Russian authorities detained Karomat Sharipov, head of the all-Russian movement “Tajik Labor Migrants,” stripped him of his Russian citizenship, and deported him to Tajikistan. He was one of the human rights defenders who sharply criticized Russia’s migration policy.

Izat Amon, founder and head of the “Center for Tajiks” in Moscow, who defended the rights of Tajik migrants, was expelled from Russia under various pretexts.

Also, on May 19, the head of the public organization of Tajiks “Payvand” in Samara, Saidasror Mirzoev, was expelled from Russia. On December 23, 2020, the Samara City Court stripped him of his Russian citizenship. Saidasror was known among migrants as “Hans” and managed one of the largest markets in Samara.

After the publication of the detention of human rights defender Valentina Chupik, Tajik experts wrote on social media that with the expulsion of Valentina Chupik, Russia has said its final word about migrants: “Migrants in Russia can no longer have rights!”