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St. Petersburg court upholds US citizen expulsion

US citizen Jennifer Gaspar is accused of public calls for changing Russia's Constitutional Order

© ITAR-TASS/Sergei Shleyuk

ST PETERSBURG, August 19. /ITAR-TASS/. A St Petersburg court on Tuesday upheld the migration authorities' decision to expel US citizen Jennifer Gaspar accused of public calls for changing Russia's Constitutional Order, a lawyer representing her family told Itar-Tass.

In a letter sent to Gaspar earlier this month, the migration authorities said that her residence permit was annulled on July 21. Family lawyer Sergei Golubok said the measure would be appealed as soon as he had the complete text of the court's ruling. "We have a month to appeal," Golubok said, adding that the ruling should be on hand on August 22.

Head of the regional Federal Security Service department Yelena Dunayeva said the expulsion order had been issued on the strength of the documents supplied by security bodies which said Gaspar had violated the law on the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation.

A private entrepreneur in Petersburg and organizational development expert, Gaspar was granted a residence permit 4.5 years ago. She has lived in Russia legally since 2004. Gaspar is married to Ivan Pavlov, a Petersburg-based lawyer who founded the Institute For Freedom of Information Development.

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