Jailed political prisoner Bakhrom Khamroev left stateless by Russia

Azat Miftakhov, a mathematician and anarchist currently held at Penal Colony No. 18 in the remote Yamalo-Nenets region, told reporters that the authorities had revoked the citizenship of Bakhrom Khamroev.

‘They stripped him of it a year ago, in April, but the paperwork has only just arrived,’ Azat Miftakhov said. ‘It came as a complete surprise to him. He says he now has no citizenship at all. His Russian citizenship was automatic after the fall of the USSR; before that, he only held Soviet citizenship.’

Bakhrom Khamroev is the director of the Yordam Foundation, an organisation providing legal and social support for migrants, and was a member of the prominent Memorial Human Rights Defence Centre until it was forced to close by Russian authorities. He is also an activist for the Uzbek opposition group Birlik.

He is currently serving a sentence of 13 years and nine months after being convicted of participating in the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir organisation and sharing its materials online under Russia’s anti-terrorism laws. Khamroev categorically denies any involvement with the group.