An Armenian court dismissed Klimenchenko's lawsuit against the Migration Service on formal grounds.

Kuban blogger Valery Klimenchenko's claim against Armenia's denial of asylum has been dismissed. The court cited the plaintiff's signature on the claim, which he intended to address the court through an interpreter.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," Valery Klimenchenko, a blogger from Krasnodar Krai who served time for justifying terrorism, requested political asylum in Armenia, but the Migration Service deemed his return to Russia risk-free. His defense appealed the decision. Klimenchenko also demanded that the FSB lift financial restrictions. The Yerevan Administrative Court adjourned the hearing on Kuban blogger Valery Klimenchenko's lawsuit against the Migration Service for denying him asylum, citing the need to provide Klimenchenko with an interpreter.

Valery Klimenchenko told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the Yerevan court returned the lawsuit for reasons unknown to him.

‎"I manually found out through a search in the DataLex database that the judge ruled that the lawsuit should be returned to the plaintiff, i.e., me, because it was not signed by me personally, but by my lawyer. I only learned of this decision now.  Nobody returned the lawsuit to me. I don't know if they returned it to my lawyer. At the moment, I will consult with my lawyer about the further course of the case," Klimenchenko said.

He indicated that he has grounds and reasons not to return to Russia and reported that At the trial, I wanted to speak "not only about the grounds for persecution in Russia, but also about the reasons why I must remain here." One of these reasons is the following. Four months ago, I lost a loved one. He is buried in the Lori region. Therefore, my place is next to him," Klimenchenko emphasized.

Ani Chatinyan, a lawyer for the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, stated that the issue of an interpreter arose because Klimenchenko himself expressed a desire to speak in court to express his position.

"There is no problem with an interpreter as such. The state will provide one at its own expense. But the fact is that Klimenchenko's lawyer filed the lawsuit and could have supported him in court himself. But Klimenchenko himself wanted to express his position, so we petitioned for an interpreter. But calling an interpreter requires time and formalities," she said.

00:26 25.11.2020

Human rights activists consider the sentence for Kuban blogger Klimenchenko excessively harsh

Valery Klimenchenko, a blogger from the Krasnodar Territory who received a four-year prison sentence for justifying terrorism and publicly insulting a government official, does not deserve real punishment. Human rights activists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" stated that he was sentenced because he did not call for a repeat of the terrorist attack. The lawyer believes the convicted man has no chance of achieving a fair decision in Russian courts.

The lawyer indicated that they try to keep the details of the case confidential and are wary of predicting such proceedings.
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‎"However, we can only report on the question of whether the events Klimenchenko describes actually took place based on his words, as we lack the resources to verify their veracity. Overall, in our assessment, the non-public nature of these proceedings stems precisely from the rights of asylum seekers, as this procedure is confidential," Chatinyan emphasized.