Asylum for scientist who feared Putin thugs
AN exiled Russian scientist who feared he would be murdered if he was sent back to his homeland has won his fight to stay in Scotland.
Alexander Shapovalov, 57, fled to the Highlands in 2015 after being convicted of fraud in Russia. He was fined £13,000 and sentenced to ten years in jail in his absence.
Mr Shapovalov, a former director general with the Scientific Centre of Applied Chemistry in St Petersburg, fought an attempt by the Russian government to extradite him.
He lives in Lochaber with his partner and two young children and sought political asylum as he believes President Vladimir Putin wants him dead. Following a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Sheriff Nigel Ross refused to grant the extradition request to return Mr Shapovalov to serve his sentence and face further charges.
He said extraditing him would be in breach of his human rights and claimed the fraud charges were unfounded.
In a scathing judgement, Sheriff Ross said Mr Shapovalov would face an unfair prosecution, possible torture and inhuman conditions in the Russian prison system.
The court heard Mr Shapovalov took up his former position in 2009 but said the institute was in ‘very bad shape’. He told the court he found out an assistant director was using the centre’s money to buy properties, adding: ‘When I found this out, I started criminal proceedings.’
Mr Shapovalov claimed he was then threatened by figures with links to President Putin. He was arrested and told that he would be charged with a serious offence. He was confined to his home for a year. After that he was allowed out for short periods and then tagged for two years.
Mr Shapovalov said he had received information that ‘everything was decided by Putin’.
Asked what would happen if he was returned to Russia, he replied: ‘I would be killed.’