Australia: Authorities Delay Visa for Masha Gessen Following Bogus Russian Sentencing
While Gessen’s visa was eventually granted, WPF is alarmed that the well-known journalist faced issues traveling due to the Kremlin’s concerted and unjust transnational repression tactics
Location: Australia
Date: August 19, 2024Update August 20, 2024
Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen, a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin's regime, had their Australian visa application delayed, which they described as a "functional denial." A day after speaking publicly about the incident, their visa was finally granted. Gessen, who was invited to speak at events in Sydney and Melbourne, was sentenced in absentia by Russia on fabricated charges in July. After applying for a visa to go to the country, the Australian Department of Home Affairs' requested the journalist provide police checks from Russia and later the United States. These cumbersome and unfair requests were triggered by the bogus sentencing issued by Russia and unintentionally played into the Kremlin's hands, hindering Gessen's ability to travel and speak freely. This situation exemplifies the challenges faced by exiled journalists, who continue to be targeted by the Russian state with baseless charges and labeled as extremists while living abroad. While Women Press Freedom welcomes the Department of Home Affairs’ swift action to rectify this decision and grant Gessen’s visa, we urge authorities to ensure that other exiled journalists and dissidents who face harassment from authoritarian regimes are not subjected to the same unfair bureaucratic hurdles when applying for visas. Such actions risk empowering tactics of transnational repression perpetrated by oppressive governments. We urge states that recognize Russia’s aggression and targeting of independent journalists and activists to cease perpetuating the persecution of those who continue to bravely expose and report on Putin’s regime.
Visa Delayed Due to Request for Police Checks
“The Russian government’s persecution of me has one purpose: to make me feel unfree even though I am living in exile and they can’t currently jail me,” Masha Gessen said in a statement released on August 18, 2024, following news that their Australian visa application had been delayed.
“I am shocked that the first allies the Russians have found in this quest to constrain me are the Australian authorities who have functionally denied me a visa.”
Gessen, based in the United States, had applied for an Australian visa to attend the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney and The Wheeler Center in Melbourne where they were scheduled to speak. The Australian Department of Home Affairs delayed their visa application by first demanding police checks from Russia and then the United States. The renowned Putin critic was subjected to these undue bureaucratic hurdles due to a bogus conviction issued against them by Russia earlier this year.
In July, the Russian-American journalist, who left Russia due to its escalating crackdown on civil liberties, was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for supposedly spreading false information about the Russian army. As documented by Women Press Freedom, the Kremlin is heightening its repression of critical exiled journalists by continuously targeting them with bogus charges and adding them to wanted lists.
When Gessen informed the Australian authorities that obtaining documents from Russia was not feasible, the Department of Home Affairs then requested police checks from the FBI and state police in the United States, despite Gessen having no criminal record in the US. This requirement added further complications, including the need for Gessen to be fingerprinted and attend a face-to-face meeting, which might not be possible before the scheduled event.
Gessen applied for their visa on June 21, 2024, but the Australian Department of Home Affairs only requested the documents from the United States in mid-August, a delay that jeopardized their participation in the festival.
Visa Eventually Granted
On August 20, 2024, Gessen announced in an ABC Radio interview in Australia that their visa had been approved, though they were uncertain about their travel plans. The Sydney festival due to host Gessen begins on August 24, 2024.
Gessen noted their surprise at the delay, explaining that their conviction in Russia, which stemmed from speaking out on war crimes in Ukraine, was intended to restrict their movement and intimidate them. Despite concerns about how this would impact travel to certain countries, Gessen had not anticipated issues with Australia.
“I was thinking that would be a problem for countries that have extradition treaties with Russia, or that are Russian allies, and I have had to take them off my travel schedule, but I did not think it would happen in Australia,” said Gessen.
The Ethics Centre’s Simon Longstaff, organizer of The Festival of Dangerous Ideas commended the Australian government's eventual decision to approve the visa, stating that Gessen’s conviction by Russia was unjust and that Australia had acted in accordance with its values of opposing political oppression in Russia.
Gessen’s case highlights the unintended consequences of bureaucratic processes, where a country like Australia, which generally supports press freedom, may inadvertently assist an authoritarian regime's efforts to suppress dissent. Women Press Freedom is deeply concerned by news of Gessen’s visa delay. As more and more journalists are facing charges and convictions while in exile, particularly from Russia, we fear that these situations will only escalate. Democratic countries that recognize the plight of exiled journalists and activists must have mechanisms in place to deal with such cases, so they do not unwittingly persecute those who have been unjustly targeted by authoritarian regimes.
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