A Foreign Ministry statement said Tuesday that David Satter, who had been working for the broadcaster in Moscow since September, had not applied for an extension of his visa within the prescribed time.
Satter said the case was bureaucratic obfuscation and RFE/RL President Kevin Klose said in a statement that barring Satter from entering Russia was a ‘fundamental violation of the right of free speech.’
Satter returned to Moscow from a trip abroad on 21 November and, according to the Foreign Ministry, was to have immediately applied for an extension of his visa.
However, he waited five days to do so, the ministry said. A court on 29 November found him in violation of administrative procedures and ordered him to leave the country. The Foreign Ministry said he left on 4 December.
Satter insisted that the Foreign Ministry had promised him that he would be issued a new visa the day after his arrival, but did not provide him with a support letter for migration officials on that day, and then his application was further delayed by a weekend.
He said that when he finally managed to visit the migration agency’s office, it declared him in violation of visa rules. ‘They have had 20 days to come up with an explanation,’ Satter said from London.
‘Now, when the story comes out they are finally offering such an absurd explanation, which they know and they are perfectly aware is a case of just bureaucratic trickery.’
Klose said in the statement Monday that Satter tried to obtain a new visa while in Ukraine, but a Russian diplomat there read him a statement on 25 December saying that Russian ‘competent organs’ consider his presence in the country ‘undesirable.’
Satter said the case was bureaucratic obfuscation and RFE/RL President Kevin Klose said in a statement that barring Satter from entering Russia was a ‘fundamental violation of the right of free speech.’
Satter returned to Moscow from a trip abroad on 21 November and, according to the Foreign Ministry, was to have immediately applied for an extension of his visa.
However, he waited five days to do so, the ministry said. A court on 29 November found him in violation of administrative procedures and ordered him to leave the country. The Foreign Ministry said he left on 4 December.
Satter insisted that the Foreign Ministry had promised him that he would be issued a new visa the day after his arrival, but did not provide him with a support letter for migration officials on that day, and then his application was further delayed by a weekend.
He said that when he finally managed to visit the migration agency’s office, it declared him in violation of visa rules. ‘They have had 20 days to come up with an explanation,’ Satter said from London.
‘Now, when the story comes out they are finally offering such an absurd explanation, which they know and they are perfectly aware is a case of just bureaucratic trickery.’
Klose said in the statement Monday that Satter tried to obtain a new visa while in Ukraine, but a Russian diplomat there read him a statement on 25 December saying that Russian ‘competent organs’ consider his presence in the country ‘undesirable.’