Russia strips Tajik diaspora leader of citizenship, expels him

Saifiddin Odinaev, leader of the Tajik diaspora in Russia’s Perm region, has been stripped of his Russian citizenship and expelled from the country, with a 50-year ban on reentry.

The Perm regional Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed the revocation of the citizenship of one of the community’s leaders, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media.

Odinaev had previously come under law enforcement scrutiny. In 2014, he was sentenced to 11 months in a penal colony for robbery after reportedly demanding a mobile phone from fellow Tajik Behruz Shoev and seizing it by force when refused. 

Taking into account time spent in pretrial detention, Odinaev served only three months.

By Jeyhun Aghazada