Volokhonski is an opposition politician from St. Petersburg, and he arrived in Serbia in May 2022 after pressure and persecution in his country.
Anti-war activist from Russia Vladimir Volokhonski told Radio Free Europe (RSE) that he received a notification from the police on July 25 that he was denied a temporary residence permit in Serbia, the FoNet agency reports.
Volokhonski is an opposition politician from St. Petersburg, and he arrived in Serbia in May 2022 after pressure and persecution in his country. As a foreigner, he had a temporary residence permit in Belgrade until now.
Together with other anti-war activists in Serbia, he founded the non-governmental Russian Democratic Society and participated in protests against Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Volokhonski for RSE assesses that the decision not to extend his residence permit is “a form of political pressure”.
“Unacceptable risk”
“Since my activities, like all the activities of the Russian Democratic Society, are exclusively public and legal, I see no reason to consider ourselves a threat to the security of the state in any way,” emphasized Volokhonsky.
In the decision that was handed to him, he says, the police refer to the evaluations of the Security and Information Agency (BIA) that there are security obstacles and extend his stay, because his stay in Serbia represents an “unacceptable security risk”.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security and Information Agency did not respond to RSE’s urgent inquiry about the reasons for denying Volokhonski a temporary stay in Serbia.
Source : AL JAZEERA
