Russian authorities have forcefully deported Vladislav Ivanenko, a Kazakh national who worked as a journalist in Russia, to the country of his citizenship, his employer Properm.ru reported Tuesday.
Ivanenko was arrested early on Nov. 9 at his home in the Ural Mountains city of Perm and taken to a temporary detention facility for foreign nationals where he has remained since, according to Properm.ru.
The journalist has lived and worked in Perm for the past eight years, but was notified that his Russian residency permit had been revoked shortly before being detained.
Law enforcement officials went ahead with Ivanenko’s deportation on Monday despite an earlier court ruling suspending the final decision to revoke his Russian residency permit, according to Properm.ru.
He was brought to the airport in the nearby city of Yekaterinburg and placed on a flight to Kazakhstan, the outlet said.
It remains unclear why Russian authorities might have chosen to revoke Ivanenko's residency permit, though Properm.ru said in an earlier statement that he has no criminal record.
“We consider the actions of law enforcement authorities illegal. We demand an official explanation of what is happening. We will also continue to protect our journalist in court,” Properm.ru’s editor-in-chief Denis Vikhrov said in a statement Tuesday.
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