“The Russian Federation grants political asylum to foreign citizens and stateless persons in accordance with universally recognized norms of international law,” reads Article 63 of the Russian Constitution. However, only one person received political asylum in Russia: the North Korean Kim Myung-se in 1992, i.e., a year before the adoption of the law “On Refugees” and three years before the official establishment of the political asylum status. Exactly 25 years ago, on July 21, 1997, President Boris Yeltsin signed an executive order approving the procedure for granting political asylum.
Political asylum is a phantom status that is never granted to anyone who applies for it, and is offered to those who do not need it.
In his report On the Status of Political Asylum in Russia, Konstantin Troitsky, analyst of the Civic Assistance Committee, tells the history of the political asylum status, analyzes the normative documents that define it, and cites famous cases of applying for this status.
The phantom status of political asylum is used as a tool for media propaganda and imitation of a legal institution that does not exist in practice.
Read the report here:
