In Russia, an American businessman was held for two weeks in a special detention center

American businessman, former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia Scott Blacklin, after two weeks of detention in a special detention center for foreigners who had illegally entered Russia, was expelled from the country. Scott Blacklin was sent to Finland by Finnair company from Nizhny Novgorod airport around 4 in the morning local time on Saturday.

In May, Scott Blacklin was going to take part in the KomTek innovation conference held by Lobachevsky University in Nizhny Novgorod. However, on May 20, before arriving at the university, he was detained by officers of the Federal Migration Service of Russia. Her representatives accused Blacklin of “inconsistency with the stated goal of entering the Russian Federation in fact carried out”, despite the fact that the businessman entered Russia on a multiple business visa for the purpose of a business trip to attend a training seminar as a lecturer.

According to Russian media reports, Scott Blacklin was detained in one of the Nizhny Novgorod hotels and immediately taken to a special detention center. The court, which justified the legality of these actions of the Russian authorities, took place later.

One of the district courts of Nizhny Novgorod found the American guilty, fined 5 thousands of rubles and decided to expel him from Russia. A year ago, Scott Blacklin was also accused of violating visa rules - then he came to Russia with lectures on a tourist visa.

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Moscow, Will Stevens, told Voice of America that the story of Scott Blacklin’s arrest and expulsion was “absurd”:

“Mr. Blacklin, faced last year with the difficulties associated with the nature of the visa issued to him, before the current trip specifically found out what kind of visa he needed to do his job. He received exactly the visa that the Russian authorities called necessary for him. Mr. Blacklin’s detention was also absurdly long. ”