Saifiddin Odinayev, a prominent figure in the Tajik diaspora in Russia’s Perm region, has been stripped of his Russian citizenship and deported from the country.
Kommersant, citing the Federal Security Service (FSB)’s regional office, says the decision was based on actions deemed to pose a threat to Russia’s national security. Odinayev has also been banned from re-entering the country for 50 years.
Authorities say Odinayev had previously drawn the attention of law enforcement. In April 2014, he was reportedly convicted of robbery involving violence after allegedly assaulting a fellow Tajik and forcibly taking his mobile phone. He was sentenced to 11 months in a general-regime penal colony but served only about three months, including time spent in pretrial detention.
Officials have not disclosed the specific actions that led to the current decision to revoke his citizenship and expel him. Odinayev has not yet made a public statement regarding the case.
This is not the first time a prominent member of the Tajik community in Russia has been deported.
In December 2017, Karomat Sharipov, former head of the now-defunct “Tajik Labor Migrants” movement, was expelled following a court ruling that found him guilty of illegally obtaining Russian citizenship. Sharipov claimed his deportation was politically motivated and linked to his work defending migrant rights.
Karomat Sharipov died of a heart attack on May 9, 2020, in his hometown of Vahdat, Tajikistan.
