For immediate release (Ottawa): November 27, 2014
The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association continues to call on the federal government to remove (ex) KGB Captain Mikhail Lennikov from Canada. Recently, Lennikov was making plans to "build support for (his) movement" via a Skype forum on Friday, according to local newspapers.
Lennikov was ordered deported from Canada more than four years ago, yet he remains in Vancouver, falsely claiming a "right of sanctuary" in a Lutheran church.
Lennikov was a member of the KGB, the notorious Soviet secret police force, a brutal security apparatus responsible for the murders of millions of innocent people in the former Soviet Union and beyond. In particular, people were targeted for their religious beliefs, making it all the more odious that a church in Canada is giving him refuge.
There is no law that prevents Canadian Border Services Agency personnel from entering the church and following the rule of law, yet they have not done so.
"We commend the prime minister on his principled stand regarding Russian President Putin – an ex-KGB director – for his war against Ukraine. We call upon the prime minister to demonstrate his sincerity by removing Putin's man in Canada," said Roman Zakaluzny, UCCLA's chairman.
"Lennikov had no right to enter Canada, has no right to remain here, and should long ago have been removed whence he came, as should any and all of Putin's men and women found here. Even one of them in our midst is one too many."