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Russia deports left activist ahead of G8 summit in neighboring Japan
Pytalovo (Russia)-Rezekene (Latvia), 25.06.2008: During the night from 24th to 25th of June the left anti-G8 activist, Dr. Martin Krämer, was detained and deported from Russia by border police. After 4 hours of confinment and interrogation, the officer in command, Vadim Adreevich Belekov (“Zamnachalnik otdelene Pogran-Sluzhba Pytalovo Pasazherski ZhD”), declared at 4:27 that all documents and the Russian working visa of Dr. Krämer were in order but he would be deported nevertheless following special orders he had just received from federal organs in Moscow. A female officer under his command wearing a three-star-uniform, who preferred not to give her name, quoted the command from the capital as saying “na dannym moment ego vyzita v RF nezhelatelny (at the given moment his visit to the Russian Federation is not desirable)”.
When Dr. Krämer pointed out, that he was following an invitation by the Russian Ministery of Education and Science Belekov promptly retorted, that his deportation order was issued by a much more senior command structure. This remark clearly hinted at the ubiquitous role of the Russian political police FSB. In March, the FSB officer Malakhov had issued a death threat to Dr. Krämer during an informal detention with severe beating in the Pacific town of Vanino.
During overnight detention as in March, Dr. Krämer was given no reason for his arrest. He was hindered to sleep and invariably questioned by various officers who refused to present themselves. At 4:00 o’clock in the morning the commanding officer finally refused to facilitate a phone call to Dr. Krämer’s legal assistant. No date was given when Dr. Krämer will be able to enter the Russian Federation. His visa is valid until 8th of March 2009.
This latest deportation incident comes after a series of arbitrary measures by Russian and Japanese authorities to limit mobility of activists involved in the caravan against G8 heading for Sapporo, which has started from Rostock on 20th of April 2008. 10th of March this year Dr. Krämer has been refused landing in Japan and deported to Russia being kept at sea for over a fortnight. “Our struggle is global because we are everywhere,” Dr. Krämer commented last night’s incident in a first reaction: ”Repression on our mobility will only shift our focus of intervention for a better world without capitalism, not our impact”. After the global action day on July 5th against the G8 meeting in Japan, preparations are likely to take momentum for preventing G8 in Italy in 2009.