Federal officials have given Canadian citizenship to a woman they had pulled from a citizenship ceremony because a Russian court had convicted her for opposing Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. A new Canadian citizen holds a 'Welcome Home' booklet containing a citizenship certificate during a Canadian citizenship ceremony at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Musical Ride stables in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
OTTAWA – Federal officials have given Canadian citizenship to a woman they had pulled from a citizenship ceremony because a Russian court had convicted her for opposing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Maria Kartasheva became a Canadian this afternoon, days after going public that the Immigration Department had blocked her from taking her citizenship oath just before her ceremony was to begin.
Kartasheva left Russia in 2019 because of rising authoritarianism, and is now a tech worker in Ottawa who co-founded a grassroots activist group for democracy in Russia.
A Russian court recently convicted her in absentia of a wartime offence of deliberately spreading false information about Russian forces related to two blog posts she wrote while living in Canada.
Kartasheva notified Canadian officials about the charges, and they invited her to a citizenship ceremony, only to pull her out saying the charges in Russia might resemble a Canadian law.
Kartasheva appealed the decision and feared being deported to a Russian prison, but officials called her today, inviting her to attend a virtual ceremony a few hours later.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2024.
