Former US marine seeks political asylum in Russia

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US citizen, former marine, seeks political asylum in Russia
02.10.2012

http://english.pravda.ru/society/storie ... _asylum-0/

Former Marine of the U.S. Army Patrick Downey appealed to the President of the Russian Federation asking to grant him political asylum. Patrick told Pravda.Ru that at home he was facing severe punishment. Downey said that it was caused by the material he intended to publish about the U.S. support of the Georgian leader Saakashvili, including the war with South Ossetia.

...

While Patrick does not read Russian newspapers, he still thinks they are free press unlike those in his home country.

"You have lots of newspapers, but you write about various things, including the views that are not shared by your government. This, I believe, is freedom. In the U.S., there is a taboo: no writing objectionable things about corporations or people close to the White House - it's suppressed, at times, in a very tough manner. Our country is ruled by banking syndicates and this is a real problem."

...

[While working as ] a private teacher of English to Georgian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili ... Downey obtained documents [that] confirmed the fact of funding of anti-Russian activities of Ivanishvili by the U.S. In a document dated 2007, it was stated that the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 60 percent of whose shares is owned by the United States, transferred $12 million to the bank of Ivanishvili.

...

Downey returned to the U.S. and decided to make this information public, but faced strong opposition. Press refused to publish the sensational material. As a result, the former Marine became known to the Government ...

"I began to feel that it was simply dangerous for me to be in the U.S.," said Downey. "All documents that I have uploaded online were removed, my videos on YouTube were blocked and I was threatened. The threats also came from the Georgian side, which demanded silence."

why is he so keen to go to Russia anyway?

There is nothing to stop a U.S. citizen from applying for an immigrant visa in another country. It might cost him his citizenship in the U.S. but the U.S does not prohibit people from leaving the U.S. to live elsewhere. As long as this Marine is properly discharged he can go where he wishes.

ruveyn

Lee Harvey Oswald in fact was able to keep his American citizenship, and had no problem returning to the US with his Soviet born wife - at the height of the Cold War. Then again, it's possible there was more to his story than was ever revealed.
-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer