REUTERS
January 14, 2004
Judge Says U.S.
Has Deal with Russia to Deport Banker
By Deborah Charles
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday accused the
U.S. government of having a special deal with Moscow to deport a former
Russian banker and prevent him from exhausting an effort to seek asylum
in the United States.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis rebuked the government in a hearing to
discuss the deportation of Alexander Konanykhin, who has been seeking
political asylum because he says he faces death if he returns to Russia
to face embezzlement charges.
"I would hope that some executive branch policy involving some promise,
some quid pro quo to the Russian police or executive who wants Mr. Konanykhin
... wouldn't deter our government from honoring ... the heart of an agreement
to let him have his asylum claim adjudicated," Ellis said.
Konanykhin has business ties to Mikhail Khodorkovsky -- the billionaire
former chief of YUKOS oil company who is in jail in Russia on fraud and
tax evasion charges.
Khodorkovsky's arrest is widely viewed as orchestrated by the Kremlin
to reign in the billionaire's political ambitions.
Konanykhin, who is wanted in Russia for allegedly embezzling millions
of dollars from his former bank, fled Russia in late 1992 and came to
the United States. The United States does not have an extradition treaty
with Russia.
After a series of legal battles over his status in the United States,
Konanykhin was granted asylum in 1999 by an Immigration Court judge who
said Konanykhin had demonstrated a "well-founded fear of persecution"
if he returned to Russia.
The government appealed and a Justice Department Board of Immigration
Appeals overturned the court's decision in November 2003. It ruled that
Konanykhin faced no risk of political persecution if he were sent back
to Russia.
Konanykhin appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond,
Virginia, where it is pending.
While waiting for the appeals court, Konanykhin and his wife tried to
go to Canada on Dec. 18 to seek asylum, but were stopped at the border
by U.S. officials who arrested him and prepared to deport him. Ellis stayed
the deportation just as Konanykhin was about to board a flight to Moscow.
Konanykhin says he cannot be deported under terms of a 1997 deal with
immigration authorities which lets him stay in the United States pending
final outcome of his asylum request.
Federal prosecutors said Konanykhin had violated the terms of the agreement
and therefore could be deported.
Konanykhin claims he abided by the rules.
In court papers, Konanykhin said Russians would torture and kill him
and try to extract information about Khodorkovsky.
"Prior to my death, I am sure that I will be tortured in order to
produce, from my own mouth, evidence which I know is not true, but which
will lead to Mr. Khodorkovsky's illegal conviction and execution,"
he said in the affidavit.
Ellis will continue hearing arguments on Thursday.
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