USMANOV v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
III. ENTRY BAN
20. On 12 April 2018 the Novgorod Regional Department of the Federal
Security Service drew up a decision imposing on the applicant a
thirty-five-year entry ban preventing him from entering Russia until
April 2053. It was stated that he posed a threat to national security and
public order. He was informed of that decision on 14 June 2018.
21. On an unspecified date he challenged the entry ban before the
Regional Court, which dismissed his appeal on 29 November 2018. The
court found that the entry ban had been issued by the competent authority
on the grounds that he posed a threat to Russia’s national security. Without
disclosing the information underlying that conclusion, the court held that the
impugned measure was appropriate in the applicant’s situation. The court
noted that he could settle in any country, including Tajikistan. There was no
risk to his life there. His family could follow him or stay in Russia. If that
happened, he could support them from abroad.
22. The applicant appealed against the Regional Court’s decision to the
Supreme Court of Russia. The appeal was dismissed on 17 April 2019 on
the grounds that the Regional Court when examining the case had not
breached substantive or procedural rules of domestic law in a manner that
could affect the outcome of the proceedings.
IV. ADMINISTRATIVE REMOVAL
23. On 13 August 2018 the DMI informed the applicant of his obligation
to leave Russian territory before 17 August 2018 given the entry ban
imposed on him by the Federal Security Service. He did not comply with
the order.
24. On 29 November 2018 a DMI officer drew up an administrative
offence report in respect of the applicant for breaching the rules governing
the stay of foreign nationals in Russia, specifically for his failure to comply
with the DMI’s order to leave the country. The case was transferred to the
District Court for examination on the merits.
25. On the same day, 29 November 2018, that court, taking into account
the annulment of the applicant’s Russian citizenship, the imposition of the
entry ban on him and his failure to comply with the order to leave Russia,
found him guilty of an administrative offence under Article 18.8 § 1.1 of the
Code of Administrative Offences (“the CAO”), namely “a breach by a
foreigner or stateless person of the rules for entry into Russia or staying in
the country”. It imposed a fine on him in the amount of RUB 2,000
(EUR 29) and ordered his forcible administrative removal from Russia.
26. The court imposed the minimum fine provided for by domestic law
because the applicant had never committed other administrative offences
and had dependent minor children. It did not however see any circumstances
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