Adventurers await appeal hearing in Russia deportation case
A Briton and an American who walked into Russia from Alaska and were sentenced to deportation are awaiting an appeal hearing in their case.
Karl Bushby, a former British paratrooper who is halfway through his attempt to complete a round-the-world walk, and his travel companion Dimitry Kieffer, were detained in the Far East region of Chukotka on April 1 and sentenced two weeks later for illegally crossing the border.
A district court in the Chukotka capital Anadyr, which is to hear the case, received Bushby’s appeal today, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported, citing court officials.
Aside from deportation, Bushby was also fined and given a five-year travel ban, which would prevent him from continuing his journey.
Bushby’s father Keith said his son hoped Russian authorities would allow him to fly back to Alaska, collect all the necessary documents and return to a Chukotka village, where his trip was interrupted.
“Karl would like to walk the full length of Russia,” Bushby said.
Bushby said were his son to lose the appeal, he would not return home but would wait five years to return to Russia and continue his journey.
The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Bushby as saying in Anadyr that the travellers had indeed broken Russian law, but still hoped authorities would let them return.
“We were being told that we had violated (the law) and we could not deny it,” he said.
