Court in Lithuania Overturns Ten-Year Entry Ban for Russian Rapper Morgenshtern
Russian rapper Alisher Morgenshtern has successfully challenged through court the ban on entering Lithuania, which was previously imposed on him for 10 years. Lithuania's Supreme Administrative Court granted his appeal and annulled both the decision of the migration service and the ruling of the court of first instance, which had previously upheld the ban, writes LRT.
Alisher Morgenshtern. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Initially, Lithuania's Migration Department banned Morgenshtern from entering, citing national security risks. However, the court found that this decision was insufficiently justified.
In addition, the court ordered the artist to be compensated for legal costs, which amounted to about 34 euros.
The court's main complaint is that the authorities did not provide a proper assessment from the State Security Department, which should have officially evaluated the potential threat. Instead, the decision was based on information from other bodies and open sources.
The court also noted that previous statements, creative work, or inclusion in lists of other countries do not, by themselves, prove a threat to Lithuania. Furthermore, when the decision was made, not all circumstances of the case were considered, and the review was one-sided.
As a result, the court concluded that such a strict measure as a ten-year entry ban for the rapper was not sufficiently justified and violated the principle of proportionality.
After the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, Alisher Morgenshtern changed his public stance and criticized the war, although prior to that, at various times, he had expressed support for the Russian authorities.
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