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Russian lawyer Trunov says was deported from Moldova as undesirable person

According to Trunov, he arrived in Moldova to take part in an international economic and investment forum but was detained, along with other Russian nationals, by Moldovan border control officers at the Chisinau airport, where they were held for two days

Igor Trunov Nikolay Galkin/TASS

Igor Trunov

© Nikolay Galkin/TASS

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. Russian lawyer Igor Trunov told TASS on Sunday that he had been detained at the Chisinau airport to be deported from the country after spending two days in custody.

According to Trunov, he arrived in Moldova to take part in an international economic and investment forum but was detained, along with other Russian nationals, by Moldovan border control officers at the Chisinau airport, where they were held for two days. "At the passport control desk, I explained in detail the purposes of my visit and showed the invitation, hotel booking confirmation and return tickets for May 13 but was shown by border control officers to a special room for further formalities," he said.

"We with other Russian nationals were kept in custody during the night from May 11 to 12. We were deprived of documents and the freedom of movement. <…> Our requests for explanations about the reasons for the detention were followed by insulting and obscene words. When we tried to record the illegal actions by Moldovan officials in photo or video, they threatened us with a ten-day administrative arrest," Trunov said, adding that Moldovan law enforcement officers had seized his phone "and deleted videos and photos."

He said that he and other Russian nationals had been denied entry to the country on the grounds that they were "undesirable persons who failed to confirm the purpose of the visit."

"Such illegal and unpunished practices have been in place for more than a year, with Moldovan authorities denying entry to the republic to Russian actors, political analysts, scientists, politicians, and journalists without any grounds," he said upon arrival in Russia.

Trunov was invited to Chisinau by the chair of the council of the international congress of industrialists and entrepreneurs and Moldova’s former Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev to attend an international economic and investment forum on May 11-13.

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