On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Intervention Helps to Secure Release of Detained Christian Russian Immigrant Gennady Denisenko, Denied Political Asylum
"I praise God for what The Rutherford Institute did and is continuing to do to enable Americans to take action and speak out when it is needed."--Gennady Denisenko
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Following intervention by The Rutherford Institute and an outpouring of public support, Gennady Denisenko, a Virginia resident who has been denied political asylum, is now back home with his family in Charlottesville, Va., after having been detained in a Texas prison for five months. Last month, Institute president John W. Whitehead called on President Bush, Senators John Warner and Jim Webb and Congressman Virgil Goode to intervene to prevent Denisenko's deportation to Russia. According to Whitehead, plans were already underway to deport Denisenko to Russia, where he would likely have been met with hostility, given the deteriorating relations between the U.S. and Russia.
"I am so happy to be home and I praise God for what The Rutherford Institute did and is continuing to do to enable Americans to take action and speak out when it is needed," stated Denisenko. "The Rutherford Institute made people aware and established the avenues for people to take action on my behalf, to participate in real democracy."
A former prosecuting attorney representing the Soviet government in his hometown of Krasnodar, Gennady Denisenko reportedly drew the ire of local politicos by trying to practice law independent of communist dogma. He was also a vocal proponent of democracy. Consequently, he was tagged by the KGB, stripped of his right to practice law and imprisoned in a labor camp in Siberia for several years. Denisenko converted to Christianity following his release from the labor camp. Like so many of his time, he fled his native land because he feared his political and religious beliefs would result in further reprisals by the repressive Soviet regime.
Aided by an American family, Gennady defected to the United States in 1991, seeking political asylum. Unfortunately, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Denisenko's request for asylum was rejected by the United States government, which cited a failure to show exceptional circumstances. Gennady's subsequent efforts to pursue all avenues available to him, including a request to have his asylum application be reopened and/or have his immigration status adjusted in light of his marriage to a U.S. citizen, have been to no avail. Indeed, they came to an abrupt halt in April 2008 when the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) requested that Gennady and Melinda Denisenko appear at an office in Northern Virginia to finalize their pending status adjustment application. However, when the Denisenkos arrived for their appointment, INS agents seized and handcuffed Gennady. He was placed in INS custody and imprisoned in Texas, pending deportation to Russia. After being contacted by Denisenko's friends and family, The Rutherford Institute brought its weight to bear in the case. Following the Institute's intervention, the U.S. government agreed to sign onto a joint motion to re-open Denisenko's immigration status.
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