13 November 2007
Thirteen Chabad yeshiva students were deported from Russia over visa irregularities that prompted a rare case of direct intervention by the US State Department, the JTA reports. The students, who were studying in the provincial city of Rostov, about 1,000 miles south of Moscow, were detained on immigrations violations stemming from their failure to properly register with authorities upon their arrival. All foreign visitors to Russia are required to register with the police within three days of their arrival, but the law is applied sporadically and usually results in a simple fine. While no one is disputing that the students were not properly registered, the heavy-handed approach of the authorities is being questioned.
Following a brief arraignment on Saturday, the students were ordered into detention pending their deportation. Faced with breaking the Sabbath, they pleaded to be allowed to walk the 45 minutes to a dilapidated local prison rather than take the 90-minute drive to a prison for foreigners. In the local prison, the detainees were forced together into a tiny cell meant to house three prisoners, according to several sources who spoke to the students, all males mostly from the United States and Canada, the students were arrested just before Shabbat on Friday.
Early the next morning, at the urging of Jewish groups concerned about their safety and the conditions in which they were being held, two US diplomats based in Moscow flew to Rostov to secure their release. The students arrived safely in Israel on Sunday after crossing the border into Ukraine by bus under the direct charge of the US government.
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