The court in the city of Novotroitsk, Orenburg region, found two citizens of Tajikistan guilty of illegally crossing the state border of the Russian Federation. According to the Novotroitsk prosecutor’s office, two citizens of Tajikistan – a 42-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman – were convicted for illegally crossing the state border of Russia with […]
The court in the city of Novotroitsk, Orenburg region, found two citizens of Tajikistan guilty of illegally crossing the state border of the Russian Federation.
According to the Novotroitsk prosecutor’s office, two citizens of Tajikistan – a 42-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman – were convicted for illegally crossing the state border of Russia with Kazakhstan in the area of Novotroitsk, Orenburg region.
The prosecutor’s office stated that entry into the Russian Federation was prohibited for these citizens of Tajikistan. Despite this, they illegally crossed the Russian-Kazakh border and entered the territory of Russia. However, it is not reported how exactly they crossed the border.
The court found the citizens of Tajikistan guilty of committing a crime under part 3 of article 322 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Crossing the border of Russia by foreign citizens whose entry is not permitted, without valid documents for entry, committed by a group of persons by prior agreement or an organized group).
The court sentenced them to imprisonment for a term of 1 year and 3 months to be served in a settlement colony.
The assistant prosecutor of Novotroitsk, Anastasia Sobotovich, informed local media that during the court session, the defendants fully admitted their guilt.
Official authorities of Tajikistan have not yet commented on this case.
The incident occurs against the backdrop of Russia tightening its migration policy over the past two years and introducing a number of new entry rules for foreign citizens, including labor migrants.
Russia remains one of the main destinations for labor migration for citizens of Tajikistan. Experts note that the tightening of migration policy and residence rules in Russia leads to increased border controls, which in turn causes an increase in the number of criminal cases related to illegal border crossing and violations of migration legislation.