On my mind...Mikhail Lennikov
A few of you may know that I did an internship at CKNW AM 980 (talk/news radio). I was helping produce the Bill Good Show. Most of that entailed tracking down politicians or going to court hearings, but there was one task that I had to do, something that I won't likely forget anytime soon....
I was asked by my producer to contact anyone and everyone regarding a documentary. More specifically, I had to find people that were unfairly facing deportation from Canada for a documentary that CKNW was doing. So I called a ton of lawyers and advocates, looking to compile a list of specific cases.
At one point a lawyer contacted me on behalf of his client, Mikhail Lennikov. Lennikov is From Russia and immigrated to Canada along with Wife and Son in the late eighties. His story is one that I find intriguing, and one that I have compassion for. This is a man that was working for the KGB in Russia- early eighties. For those that aren't too familiar with the KGB, it was most basically Russia's version of the CIA- except they were absolutely brutal in their practices. If you were drafted to work for the KGB, you really didn't have much choice. I don't want to necessarily compare them to Nazis..but that is the closest thing that comes to mind. To make a long story short-(er) Mikhail had to become a "traitor" and run with his family from Russia to escape the confines of the KGB. Hence his arrival in Canada.
The Canadian governement has now issued a final deportation notice to Lennikov and his family because of his involvment with the KGB (mandatory) over 20 years ago. Where is the compassion in this country? We will let armed robbers, abusive assholes, and convicted sex offenders roam our streets with the utmost freedom, but when a responsible, contributing person in our society is pleading for mercy, where is our compassion?
This man has done nothing but uphold his values and contribute the whole time he's been a resident of Canada, however simply because he had previous connections to the KGB, he is being "evicted". The main reason why this upsets me so much, his because of his son. His son is currenty a senior in highschool, and will not be able to graduate in Canada unless something is changed. To add upon that, his son cannot speak Russian at all. How will this boy finish his highschool if he cannot read or speak the language? This boy was raised almost completely in Canada. But I think the most pressing matter in this situation is the practice of Hazing that is rampant in Russia, right NOW.
Lennikov is known as a "traitor" in Russia because he fled from the KGB and Russia itself. Once a boy turns 18 in Russia, there is a mandatory military draft in which he very likely will have to join the army. The hazing and abuse that is afflicted on those even remotely related to "Traitors" is absolutely horrifying. Some reported examples include comlete amputation of limbs, other excrutiating tortures, and even death. These are the youth of Russia! These are not 40 year old ex convicts- or KGB assasins themselves, but merely those unfortunate enough to be associated with them.
Anyway, I'm doing all I can to get Lennikov's story out there more. He has been in some news articles and has had some interviews, but there needs to be more action to prevent his deportation of the Lennikov family and others like them. This is in-humanitarianism at it's finest.
Here is a link to Lennikov's story:
http://www.canada.com/burnabynow/news/story.html?id=032a4f88-185d-423e-8566-2d83d9e7dc48
Here is also a link for more information on the hazing problem throughout Russia right now:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/20/news/russia.php
-Desiree
I was asked by my producer to contact anyone and everyone regarding a documentary. More specifically, I had to find people that were unfairly facing deportation from Canada for a documentary that CKNW was doing. So I called a ton of lawyers and advocates, looking to compile a list of specific cases.
At one point a lawyer contacted me on behalf of his client, Mikhail Lennikov. Lennikov is From Russia and immigrated to Canada along with Wife and Son in the late eighties. His story is one that I find intriguing, and one that I have compassion for. This is a man that was working for the KGB in Russia- early eighties. For those that aren't too familiar with the KGB, it was most basically Russia's version of the CIA- except they were absolutely brutal in their practices. If you were drafted to work for the KGB, you really didn't have much choice. I don't want to necessarily compare them to Nazis..but that is the closest thing that comes to mind. To make a long story short-(er) Mikhail had to become a "traitor" and run with his family from Russia to escape the confines of the KGB. Hence his arrival in Canada.
The Canadian governement has now issued a final deportation notice to Lennikov and his family because of his involvment with the KGB (mandatory) over 20 years ago. Where is the compassion in this country? We will let armed robbers, abusive assholes, and convicted sex offenders roam our streets with the utmost freedom, but when a responsible, contributing person in our society is pleading for mercy, where is our compassion?
This man has done nothing but uphold his values and contribute the whole time he's been a resident of Canada, however simply because he had previous connections to the KGB, he is being "evicted". The main reason why this upsets me so much, his because of his son. His son is currenty a senior in highschool, and will not be able to graduate in Canada unless something is changed. To add upon that, his son cannot speak Russian at all. How will this boy finish his highschool if he cannot read or speak the language? This boy was raised almost completely in Canada. But I think the most pressing matter in this situation is the practice of Hazing that is rampant in Russia, right NOW.
Lennikov is known as a "traitor" in Russia because he fled from the KGB and Russia itself. Once a boy turns 18 in Russia, there is a mandatory military draft in which he very likely will have to join the army. The hazing and abuse that is afflicted on those even remotely related to "Traitors" is absolutely horrifying. Some reported examples include comlete amputation of limbs, other excrutiating tortures, and even death. These are the youth of Russia! These are not 40 year old ex convicts- or KGB assasins themselves, but merely those unfortunate enough to be associated with them.
Anyway, I'm doing all I can to get Lennikov's story out there more. He has been in some news articles and has had some interviews, but there needs to be more action to prevent his deportation of the Lennikov family and others like them. This is in-humanitarianism at it's finest.
Here is a link to Lennikov's story:
http://www.canada.com/burnabynow/news/story.html?id=032a4f88-185d-423e-8566-2d83d9e7dc48
Here is also a link for more information on the hazing problem throughout Russia right now:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/20/news/russia.php
-Desiree
posted by DLH- just things I learn along the way at
2:56 PM
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