Poland confirms it acted within law when revoking residency permit of Russia Today’s journalist
The Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw admitted it legally revoked the EU legal residence of the MIA (International News Agency) Russia Today journalist, Leonid Sviridov, RIA Novosti reported.
The decision of the provincial administrative court is not final and can be challenged in the Higher Provincial Court of Poland. The court documents regarding the Russian journalist are classified.
During the court hearing, Sviridov's lawyer, Yaroslav Helstovsky, asked to see the case materials, as the Russian journalist does not know why his residency is being revoked, TASS reports. Activists who were present in the court appealed with the slogan: "Stop repressions against Russians." The judge said that Sviridov’s nationality "has nothing to do with the court’s objectivity."
The lawyer for the Russian journalist, Yaroslav Helstovsky told TASS that the defense will require a written explanation to the decision on the legality of revoking his client’s EU residency status. He noted that after the submission of this document hearing will be granted within 30 days to appeal the decision of the Provincial Administrative Court.
The All-Poland Office For Foreigners revoked the Russian journalist’s status as a long-term EU resident in April 2015. The procedure was initiated by the Polish Internal Security Agency (ABW) in 2014. According to Polish media, Sviridov was suspected of espionage. In October 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, at the request of ABW, revoked Sviridov’s accreditation. In 2015, Sviridov was expelled from the country. As explained by the Agency of Internal Security of Poland, the reason for his expulsion was "certain suspicions" of the Polish special services about the journalist.