The key facts
- Valeria Chekalina's international passport has been seized; she does not have the document in her possession
- This prevents her from traveling abroad, including for medical treatment
- Earlier, the defense filed a motion with the court seeking permission to travel to China for treatment
The seized passport has blocked her travel abroad
Blogger Valeria Chekalina, known as Lerchek, is currently unable to leave Russia: her international passport has been seized. Her lawyers told Life.ru. According to her defense representatives, Chekalina does not physically have the document in her possession, which prevents her from traveling abroad, including for medical treatment. «Her international passport has been seized. She physically does not have her international passport in hand, which is an obstacle. We will work on all of this,» the lawyer said.
What preceded the situation
Earlier, as Life.ru reported, Lerchek received an official invitation for medical treatment in China. According to lawyer Konstantin Tretyakov, the Chinese clinic's documents were translated into Russian and notarized, after which the defense filed a motion with the court asking for permission for the blogger to travel abroad. Thus, the defense already has both the invitation and the court petition, but the trip is still being prevented by the absence of the passport: the publication does not specify how the defense will proceed — the lawyer limited himself to saying that «we will work on all of this.»
