The Sochi activist has a chance to avoid deportation to Russia from the USA.
The Sochi activist Dmitry Tropsky has had his permit to stay in the USA extended for another month. He hopes to obtain a French humanitarian visa during this time and avoid deportation to Russia, where he faces danger. He is supported in this by his like-minded Sochi compatriots abroad.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the activist from Sochi Dmitry Tropsky has been deprived of protection in the USA, and in the coming days, immigration police may initiate the process of his forced deportation to his homeland. An American court deemed the activist's risks as "speculative", although the European Court of Human Rights previously recognized that Tropsky was subjected to political persecution. The activist has filed an appeal.
The 49-year-old Sochi resident Dmitry Tropsky, a participant in protest and pacifist actions, left Russia in September 2022 after the announcement of mobilization. He spent about a year in Armenia, and in September 2023, he crossed the border from the USA to Mexico using the official CBP-One application. The main reason for denying Tropsky protection was his brief returns to Sochi in 2023 to visit his dying mother suffering from a serious illness. An American judge interpreted this as "a lack of objective fear of the authorities of the Russian Federation".
On August 23, the Sochi activist Dmitry Tropsky received an official notification from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) dated August 18. According to the document, his legal stay in the country has been extended for another month.
Dmitry Tropsky hopes to use the extra month gained from the extension to legally leave the United States and move to a third country.
"Today I learned that on August 18, ICE granted me another month of stay in the USA, until the next mark. I hope that during this time the situation with the French humanitarian visa will become clearer, and I will be able to leave the USA legally, avoiding deportation to the Russian Federation," - said Dmitry Tropsky.
The activist informed the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" that Sochi opposition members, who were forced to leave Russia, maintain constant communication and help each other with emigration.
"I receive words of support from lawyer Alexander Popkov, I am in contact with him. I am also in touch with Sochi activist Nastya Titova, who lives in France and has expressed her willingness to help with documentation if it becomes relevant for my move to this country," - shared Dmitry.
Former activist from Sochi Anastasia Titova, a former active participant in protest actions in Sochi, who was held administratively responsible for organizing opposition events in 2017, confirmed to the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" that she is in contact with Tropsky and is willing to help him legalize in France as a political emigrant.
"We are all political immigrants in contact with him in a common chat on social networks, I promised him to gather and fill out all the necessary documents if needed when moving from the USA to France, and at the very least, we support him morally and hope that the USA will not hand him over to the Russian authorities," - said Anastasia Titova.
In November 2019, Dmitry Tropsky appealed to the editorial office of "Caucasian Knot" with a request to investigate his illegal criminal prosecution. He provided the editorial office with documents proving his innocence and legal right to own and manage the plot.
The chances of preventing deportation and obtaining status in France were assessed by Sochi activist Sergey, who requested not to disclose his last name.
"What is a French humanitarian visa? A humanitarian visa (Visa pour demande d'asile / Visa humanitaire) is a special type of visa document issued by the French authorities to foreign citizens who are in a situation of real threat to life, freedom, or health in their homeland or in the country of temporary stay. I myself received such a visa. It is issued for entry into France with a subsequent application for international protection - refugee status within the shortest time through the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA)," - he explained.
The chances of Tropsky not being deported to the Russian Federation and moving to France were also assessed by former Sochi journalist Nikolai Yarst.
"The ICE decision to extend the mark gives Dmitry Tropsky a key advantage - time in his situation. The very fact of the extension indicates that the U.S. immigration services have temporarily suspended the forced deportation process. While a court order or ICE permission is in effect, they do not have the right to forcibly deport a person to their country of origin. During this period, voluntary departure to a third country is completely legal and supported by the American system, as it relieves the USA of the burden of maintaining the migrant," - explains Nikolai Yarst.
Nastya Titova spoke about the prospects of obtaining a French visa for Dmitry Tropsky from her knowledge of the French system: "France has a well-established mechanism for issuing humanitarian visas for Russian human rights defenders, opposition activists, and independent journalists persecuted for political reasons. The chances are increased by: the public status of the activist, his mentions in media publications and in human rights databases."
However, she warns that there is also a restraining factor: "The processing of a humanitarian visa through the French consular services often takes from several weeks to several months. Obtaining a visa and booking tickets within one month is a challenging but feasible task with a promptly made emergency request," - says Titova.
Sochi activists living abroad have no doubt that if the USA returns Tropsky to the Russian Federation, there is a direct risk of criminal prosecution, torture, and even death in custody, considering the repressive law enforcement practices in the Russian Federation towards opposition activists. However, they note that the legal norms of international law, in particular, the UN Convention Against Torture and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, prohibit the deportation of individuals to countries where they face the death penalty, torture, or inhuman treatment.
"American lawyers can use these norms as a strong argument to block deportation to the Russian Federation, even if the situation with the visa to France drags on, demanding repeated extensions in the USA," - believes Nikolai Yarst.