The Administrative Court of Serbia rejected the appeal of Russian Vladimir Volokhonski, whose request to extend his stay in Serbia was rejected, writes Deutsche Welle. In the explanation of the verdict, it is written that the "competent state authority for security protection" assessed that Vladimir Volokhonski's stay in Serbia represents an "unacceptable security risk". And that's it, because the BIA has marked the explanation as "confidential"
The ruling of the Administrative Court from a few days ago rejected the appeal of Russian citizen Vladimir Volokhonski against the decision of the police department for the city of Belgrade, which rejected his request to extend his stay in Serbia. reported by Deutsche Welle (DW).
In the explanation of the verdict, which DW had access to, it is written that the "competent state authority for security protection" assessed that Vladimir Volokhonski's stay in Serbia represents an "unacceptable security risk". The verdict does not say why or how Volokhonski can threaten the security of Serbia, but the Administrative Court states that no one is even obliged to explain it, because the Security Information Agency (BIA) marked the explanation in this regard as "confidential".
Since his residence permit was revoked last July, Volokhonsky has been living and working in Germany. However, he does not intend to give up the legal battle. His lawyer, Marko Stambuk, is preparing an appeal to the Constitutional Court.
"First of all, we will point out the fact that Vladimir Volokhonski's right to a reasoned court decision was violated, which is reflected in the violation of the right to a fair trial, but also the right to equal protection of rights and to a legal remedy." He was deprived of the basic information on which the acting authorities based their decisions, since the data for which his request for the extension of his temporary stay in Serbia was rejected was contained in a document marked with the level of secrecy 'confidential', which is why we did not have access to it. we are allowed to inspect it," Stambuk told DW.
He adds that in the appeal he will point to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, which in such cases took the position that foreigners must be protected from arbitrary actions by the authorities, by being informed of the facts "that led the state authorities to the conclusion that there is a threat to national security".
"Each state has a legitimate right to protect its constitutional order and the well-being of all citizens, but the measures it undertakes in this regard must be legal, in order to prevent their possible abuse," emphasizes Stambuk.
Political motives
At the end of September last year, the Administrative Court also rejected the request Yevgeniy Irzhansky, also a Russian citizen, for delaying the execution of the decision revoking his residence permit. He and his wife then had to leave Serbia and went to live in Montenegro.
A few weeks before that, he was detained at the Belgrade airport for about 48 hours Peter Nikitin, anti-war activist and founder of the Russian Democratic Society, which is located in Belgrade. After that, he was still allowed to enter Serbia.
The decision not to extend Iržanski's residence permit and to keep Nikitin at the airport in Belgrade was explained in the same way as in the case of Volokhonski - according to the BIA's assessment, their stay in Serbia is a security risk. Court decisions regarding them are still pending.
In addition to the BIA evaluating them as a potential danger, the three Russian citizens are united by political activism and open opposition to the war in Ukraine and the regime of Vladimir Putin. "The question is asked what kind of interference it is, but we all get the answer: 'It's none of your business, that's what the BIA has decided.' The only reasonable explanation in the case of Volokhonsky and me is our anti-war activities, and in the case of Irzhansky, the organization of concerts by musicians who are against the war in Ukraine," Peter Nikitin told DW in July.
At the time the three Russians were designated as a security risk, the BIA was headed by Alexander Vulin. "Vulin (who resigned as director of the BIA in November) publicly, through the media, brags about committing several criminal acts, among other things, giving state secrets to the Russian intelligence service. He thus places the BIA of Serbia in the function of fighting against Putin's political enemies. In this way, our services complete the work for an autocratic regime that is now committing war crimes," lawyer Aleksandar Olenik assessed for DW.
The former ambassador of Serbia to the EU and to Portugal, Duško Lopandić, draws attention to the fact that Vulin was on the US sanctions list last year, among other things, due to his alleged involvement in drug trafficking and ties to Russia. On the other hand, a few days ago (according to the announcement of Vulin's Movement of Socialists), Vladimir Putin awarded him the Order of Friendship. He also received the award of the Federal Security Service of Russia.
Legal interpretation of expulsion
In the ruling of the Administrative Court in the case of Volokhonski, it is written that the arguments from his appeal, which point to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, "are of no consequence", because they concern the expulsion of foreigners - which is not the case with Volokhonski, who only had his residence permit revoked in Serbia .
"The European Court of Human Rights has taken the position in several of its decisions that expulsion is any measure that forces a foreigner to leave the territory where he legally resides. For this reason, we believe that the Administrative Court is misinterpreting the European Convention on Human Rights, i.e. Protocol No. 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which must be respected in such situations," says Štambik.
The last instance is the European Court of Human Rights
Proceedings before the Constitutional Court of Serbia can take years, Stambuk is aware, but he still hopes that after submitting the constitutional appeal for the Volokhonski case, he will not have to wait too long for a decision. If the Constitutional Court also rejects the appeal, all legal means available to Volokhonski in Serbia will be exhausted.
"Then all the conditions for submitting a petition to the European Court of Human Rights would be met," concludes lawyer Marko Stambuk. "It would not be professional on my part to prejudge the outcome of the constitutional appeal, as well as to immediately claim that it will be negative for Vladimir Volokhonski, given that I still believe that justice can be served before domestic institutions as well, and that we will not be forced to go to Strasbourg to get it".
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