Canada granted citizenship to an activist from Russia after the procedure was suspended

Canada granted citizenship to Russian Maria Kartasheva, convicted in Russia of an article about fakes about the Russian army. She was denied this earlier. This is reported by CBS.

The citizenship ceremony took place on Tuesday, January 9. Earlier, Canada suspended the procedure. According to Canadian laws, a passport can be refused if the applicant has been convicted of a crime for which he or she could be convicted in Canada.

In November 2023, a Russian court sentenced a 30-year-old activist in absentia to eight years in prison for posts about the mass murder in Buch. Moscow denies the involvement of the Russian army in it.

In the Canadian criminal code, there is an article for spreading knowingly false information – and the Russian article about fakes about the army is similar to it, the Canadian authorities decided at first. Russian courts recognize reports about the war in Ukraine that do not coincide with the version of the Ministry of Defense of Russia as fakes.

The Canadian authorities gave Kartasheva a month to explain the reasons for the criminal prosecution in Russia. An online petition was published in its support.

A few days after the refusal, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada, Mark Miller wrote in social network X (former Twitter) that Kartasheva was offered to become a Canadian citizen. “Canadian citizenship rules are designed to catch criminals, not to punish political dissent,” he explained.

Kartasheva told CBS that after what she experienced, she feels exhausted, but at the same time feels a huge relief. She expressed the hope that her case will become a precedent for anti-war activists from Russia and that Canada will support them, “so we can sleep here peacefully and know that we are still protected.”

• After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities started persecution for anti-war speeches and statements. According to “OVD-Info” estimates, at least 810 people have been prosecuted for their anti-war stance in Russia, including 251 against them for an article about fakes about the Russian army.
• Cases against 137 of them were brought to court: 70 last year and 67 the previous year, according to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Russia. Sentences have already been passed on some of them, the longest term – 11 years in prison – was given in absentia by the founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team, Ruslan Leviev, and blogger Michael Naky.