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I am a citizen of the Russian Federation. For a long time I have been dreaming of moving to Europe or the USA. But six months ago I was prosecuted for selling drugs.

I'll tell you right away that the case is completely falsified. I didn't even have any drugs on me. And the entire evidence base is based on some photos that were allegedly found in my phone, and one of these photos was used to find a drug that I was supposedly going to sell. The forensics even confirmed that it didn't have my fingerprints on it. There's a lot of irregularities in the case. Lawyers give a good prognosis. But, unfortunately, the judicial practice in my country is such that if the case is brought to court, they try to put a person in jail, despite the violations and weak evidence.

In this situation, apart from the term I am facing (which is about 10 years), I am also frightened by the prospect of never leaving the country, as any civilized country treats articles on drugs very seriously.

Back to the question in the title. If things don't turn out well for me, is there any way in the future that this case can be reviewed in international/European/American courts when it comes to getting a visa/permanent residency/citizenship? I'm sure any normal court would recognize this case as illegal.

It used to be possible to file a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights, but Russia withdrew from the Convention in 2022.

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Erza Moksha
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1 Answers1

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When it comes to visa or citizenship, a criminal record in the home country matters if and because the host country wants it to matter. If a Western country decides to ignore a Russian criminal record, that is purely their own decision. Russia could file an interpol notice to harass you, but those are not automatic. The host country can always decide to ignore it.

So the question is not "who can cancel the record for travel purposes," but "how to convince a country to ignore the record for immigration purposes." That would depend on the country you are talking about and on the publicity of your case. Some people with Russian convictions are even exchanged for Russian assassins, but I presume you are not that well known.

Citizenship tends to come only after years of residence. If you are currently outside Russia, you can apply for political asylum where you are and use the prosecution as evidence. If the officials believe you, that becomes a powerful point in support of your asylum claim.

o.m.
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