Putin critic fights to remain in Canada, fears for safety if sent back to Russia

Her supporters say a half-dozen other researchers and officials who were aware of the data died in mysterious and violent circumstances. Musikhina’s pet dog was shot and she herself had warning shots fired over her head. The Russian FSB, an internal security service descended from the Soviet-era KGB, began asking questions.

Musikhina and her husband Mikhail fled in 2015 to join their daughter, a permanent resident of Canada, in Gatineau, Que. The couple unsuccessfully applied for refugee protection and subsequent appeals have failed.

The status of their application to the Immigration Department for consideration on humanitarian and compassionate grounds is uncertain. Regardless, the Canada Border Services Agency has indicated it will inform the couple next Tuesday of a deportation date.

“Unfortunately, the Canadian government seems to want to send us to the waiting arms of the Russian secret police,” Musikhina told a news conference Tuesday, flanked by supporters and members of her family.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is calling on Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen to halt the removals of Musikhina and her husband.

“This is an emergency. It’s a matter of life and death,” May said.

“It’s one of the most desperate cases I’ve ever seen of people on the verge of being deported. There can be no doubt as to the danger posed to dissidents within Russia — that’s well-known.”

Human-rights activist and former Alberta MP David Kilgour, who is also championing Musikhina’s case, said she faces genuine danger if returned to Russia, given the knowledge she has gleaned through her research.

— Follow @JimBronskill on Twitter

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Putin critic fights to remain in Canada, fears for safety if sent back to Russia

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