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

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

The citizenship ceremony took place on Tuesday, January 9. Earlier, Canada suspended the procedure. Under Canadian law, citizenship may not be granted if the applicant has been convicted of a crime for which he or she could be convicted in Canada.

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.

They promised to sort out the situation, and 30-year-old Kartasheva, who has been living in Ottawa since 2019, was given a month to explain the reasons for the criminal prosecution in Russia. In November 2023, a Russian court sentenced the 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.

A few days later, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship 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.