Canadian immigration asked to reconsider plans to deport ex-KGB staffer

December 24 2009 by Liam Clifford

Man currently holed up in a Church in Vancouver pleads with Canada immigration to reconsider his case.

A former KGB staffer who is facing deportation from Canada is calling for Canadian immigration to reconsider in light of new information on his case.

Mikhail Lennikov has been seeking sanctuary in a church in Vancouver after the authorities refused to grant him a Canadian visa to allow him to remain living in Canada. The refusal was made on security grounds and Lennikov now claims that he is in possession of government documents that prove he is not a threat to national security.

Lennikov has persisted that he was forced to join the KGB as a young man and was upfront about his history at the spy agency when he moved to Canada in 1997. He has even given the Canadian secret services a debriefing about his time in the KGB, where he mostly did administrative work.

He claims that if he returns to Russia he may well meet stiff punishment and is appealing against the final decision made in 2006 that he should not be able to live in Canada because of
his KGB past.

Lennikov’s wife, Irina and son Dmitri have been told by Canada immigration they can remain living in Canada and he says he will do anything it takes to make sure his family is not split up.

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