Ex-KGB agent leaves Canada for Russia to avoid deportation
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 17 August 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ex-KGB agent leaves Canada for Russia to avoid deportation, 17 August 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/55ee96d6b.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
August 17, 2015
A former KGB agent who spent six years living in a church in Canada to avoid deportation to Russia has left Canada, his lawyer says.
Mikhail Lennikov, 55, left Vancouver's First Lutheran Church last week after negotiations with the Canada Border Services Agency.
Lennikov's immigration lawyer, Hadayt Nazami, said on August 16 that his client voluntarily left the church in which he had sought sanctuary in 2009.
He did not say exactly when Lennikov was flown to Russia.
Lennikov was escorted by Canada Border Services Agency officers to Toronto, where he boarded a flight to Moscow, the lawyer added.
Lennikov, who was in Canada with his family since 1997, was ordered to be deported on June 3, 2009, because of his past with the KGB as a Japanese-Russian translator in the 1980s.
He openly confessed his role with the infamous Soviet spy agency to the Canadian government in 1999 and said he did the work under pressure.
Lennikov previously said he feared being tried for treason in Russia, but Nazami indicated that no longer seems to be the case.
His wife and son, now Canadian citizens, are expected to stay in Canada.
Based on reporting by globalnews.ca and National Post
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
