Paul
Goble
Staunton, September 2 – The Federal
Migration Service has stripped Osher Krichevsky, Omsk’s chief rabbi, of his
residence permit nominally on the basis of a charge of illegal trading of
alcohol but in fact, experts say, because of the political situation in the
Russian Federation, “Kommersant-Siberia” is reporting today.
Yesterday, the FMS told the rabbi,
who has Israeli citizenship, that he has 15 days to leave Russia together with
his wife and six children. Krichevsky told the newspaper that the officials had
refused to tell him the reason or to meet with him or his representatives to discuss
the case (kommersant.ru/doc/2557887).
Krichevsky, 36, has served as the
chief rabbi of Omsk and Omsk oblast since September 2001, and in 2007, he
received his residence permit. He has been quite active, including in establishing
a kosher store at the synagogue there, and officials earlier fined him 2,000
rubles (50 US dollars) for selling alcohol without a license.
Leaders of the Jewish community in Omsk
believe that the action against their rabbi was initiated not by the FMS but by
the FSB, the Russian security services, and they say that they plan to appeal
to Vladimir Putin and “the competent organs in order that justice may be
restored.”
The leaders of the community also
insist that Krichevsky is “an absolutely apolitical individual,” but other
observers there, “Kommersant-Siberia” reports, say that he may have made some “anti-government
comments” in private conversations and that the authorities have moved against
him to send a warning to other religious leaders.
Under Russian law, the rabbi has
ten days to appeal the decision, but his position is weakened by the fact that
he cannot appeal until the FMS tells him why he is being expelled, something
the FMS is currently unwilling to do, according to legal experts with whom Olga
Danilova of the newspaper spoke.
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