British Embassy Inquires Why Rights Lawyer Refused Entry
posted by zaina19 on November, 2005 as Human Rights
From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 11/21/2005 11:52 AM
British Embassy Inquires Why Rights Lawyer Refused Entry
Monday, November 21, 2005 Reuters
London has asked Moscow to explain why it barred a British lawyer from entering Russia to observe the trial of a journalist who published an article by a Chechen rebel leader, the British Embassy said on Friday.
Human rights groups said on Tuesday that Bill Bowring had been detained at Sheremetyevo airport, questioned for four hours and finally refused entry despite having a valid Russian visa.
"We have concerns and we are quite surprised. We have taken up our concerns with the [Foreign Ministry] at a high level," said Alan Holmes, an embassy spokesman. "This type of event is extremely rare in our experience."
Bowring was due to travel to the Volga city of Nizhny Novgorod to observe the trial of Stanislav Dmitryevsky, who published an article by a Chechen rebel Aslan Maskhadov calling for talks to end the war in Chechnya.
Prosecutors opened a case against him for "hatred or enmity on the basis of ethnicity or religion," human rights groups have said. In a separate case, prosecutors have sought to revoke the registration of his Russian-Chechen Friendship Society.
Rights groups say his case is an assault on freedom of speech. "If Stanislav Dmitryevsky is convicted on these charges, Amnesty International will consider him a prisoner of conscience," Amnesty International said in a statement.
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