April 201409:15 VG – Ruslan Y.

- Asylum Law -1 Interpreter

Here is the monument in memory of the assassination on

September 4th 1999 in Buinaksk.

This is where the grocery store

was.

Present in the courtroom are the claimant, his attorney and the Russian interpreter. The respondent did not appear.

The claimant is shown an aerial photograph. Then he is

shown a photograph from Google Earth. He asks: “What is

this for?”. After a long period of consideration, he recognizes the stadium in which he used to play.

He shows the approximate location of his home, the place

where his father‘s factory used to be.

When was the last time you had contact with your mother?

In 2011. When we said our goodbyes.

Claimant

That‘s hard to believe. Recently I had a grandmother here from Dagestan, she told me that she skypes with her neighbor in

Dagestan. And in St. Petersburg they surely have the internet, cell phones, and Skype too. So

when was the last time you spoke to your mother?

Claimant:When we said our goodbyes. In 2011. I was still little.

Judge:You weren‘t that little, maybe 16. And af-ter that, you no longer remained in con-tact?

Claimant:No.

Judge:You‘ve said that you‘re from a large family: grandfather, uncle … Were you in contact with them?

Claimant:No. I was searching through the social networks but couldn‘t find them.

Judge:How did you say your goodbyes?

Claimant:She said: “Everything‘s going to be alright.”

No address, no phone number?

No, nothing. All three of us wanted to come to Germany. But the man said he only had enough room for two on the ferry. He also said that he would bring our mother soon.. But he didn‘t say much to us.

Judge:Where the first ferry goes, the second one goes too. I don‘t understand.

Do you feel like your mother deserted you?

No.

What happened to your father?

I think he disappeared.

Judge

Claimant

You think, but you don‘t know. You know, it’s not enough for me that you

were a minorand didn’t know

anything.I‘m under the impression that you don‘t want to

give me any information. If you

don‘t want to talk, I‘ll note it in your file.

Where did you stay in

St. Petersburg?

With a man. Turpal, that was his name. He was also from

Dagestan, drove an expensive SUV.

Judge:How long did you stay with him?

Claimant:About a month.

Judge:And you didn‘t know what would happen next?

(dictates):In answer to the question of whether

he knew what was going to happen to him, the claimant said: “Nobody talked to us about our future.”

Why does the idea of going back scare you? What do you think

will happen there?

Death. What else? Everyone thinks it‘s safe in Dagestan.

Claimant:My mother paid money so that my father could go free.

Judge:You don‘t know anything else but you know about the money?

Claimant:Otherwise they wouldn‘t have let him go free!

Judge:You assume, but you don‘t know.

Why don‘t you believe that my

father and my mother were taken away?

The problem is: If you didn‘t

experience anything, you can‘t tell me anything.

Save us the work…

Judge:You said in the interview, that you once saw your father being led off once.

Claimant:I meant the first time. My father was taken away about ten times.

Concentrate, try to place yourself in the situation.

Describe it as accurately as you can, so that I can imagine it.

I was there the first time. They took my father with them, after maybe 5 hours he came back, he had been beaten.

Claimant: There was a knock at the door... They said, “Suspicion of terrorism”, and asked where my father‘s friend was.

Judge:They said that at the door?

Claimant:No, they came into the flat.

Judge:Where were you then?

Claimant: In the kitchen, we didn‘t close the door there.

Judge:And they did that in front of a child? It doesn’t sound like you actually witnessed it.

(dictates):The first time the police came...

That‘s not what

I said!!!

I‘m dictating what you said

before.

But that‘s not what I

said.

Now listen until the end, then mark

the incorrect passages.

First came the section head, then the people with police helmets. Something isn‘t right here. How often

did you witness this? Which incisive events can you

describe?

Respondent

Claimant:My father as he was being pushed onto the floor, how they handcuffed him. That was sum-mer 2011. I know that exactly.

Judge:Why?

Claimant:Because it was hot, we were wearing shorts, and we went to the sea.

Judge:Was your father arrested by the sea?

Claimant:No! I‘m just describing the time, that summer.

Judge:What happened to your father‘s factory?

Claimant:It was closed. It wasn‘t a factory, it was half the size of this room.

Judge:Who closed it?

Claimant:Everyone knew what was going on. Father didn‘t came back, brought no new materials, and the two workers left.

I wanted to tell you about something else. When my father

disappeared, the people came back and asked about my mother.

One time when I came back from practice, everything in our flat

was destroyed. My brother was sit-ting on the floor holding a towel, it was covered in blood. My mother screamed hysterically: „Look what

they did to your brother!“ They had stabbed my brother in the

chest with a knife. We couldn‘t go to the hospital because the people said that, if

we did that, it wouldn‘t end well for us.

My mother called a doctor to our home and paid

him for his silence. He stitched

up the wound.

Judge:Were you a particularly religious family?

Claimant:No, not us. But my father changed when he met Ahmad. He forced us to pray and fast.

Judge:That‘s why you think he became an Islamic terrorist?

Claimant:Yes, that‘s what we assumed. Me, my brother and my mother.

You know, even when I was reading the protocols I

couldn‘t beleive your story. But I wanted to hear it again. The story has become even more unbelievable. There‘s only a vague implication that your father is a terrorist. The

claimant is not the focus of security services. Where is

the problem?

His future is ruined. I agree that his

story is very childish. But that‘s exactly what makes it so believable for me. He

doesn‘t dramatize anything. He doesn‘t say

anything because somebody told him to tell

it that way. He‘s in a dilemma: he can not say that his mother deserted him. Neither can he say that his mother is no

longer alive. Both assertions would hurt him.

I don‘t see it that way. And it‘s not about whether his story is “childish”, it‘s simply out of touch with reality. I am sorry. He also repeatedly said that he does not „know“, but „thinks“. Trauma? He can‘t have that either, since he himself wasn‘t

beaten himself.

It‘s unfortunate to be sent two children without any reason for asylum. But that‘s how

it is.

Back then, in 2011, the circumstances in Dagestan

resembled a civil war. There were assassinations. Women weren‘t informed about the situation,

children neither. Thats‘s normal. I don‘t know if there‘s a chance

for him as an Internally Displaced Person. As a relative

of a terrorist security services could be on

his tail quickly.

I won‘t file a request to present evidence. We won‘t find the father.

Judge:The father is a phantom. He disappeared, he possibly went to another woman. What do I know....

From my point of view the story isn‘t believable, what else can I do?

He(Judge) constantly says, that my mother lives in St. Petersburg. But I do not know if she is still there. Maybe she went somewhere else, maybe she even came to Germany to

look for us.

He who doesn‘t know anything isn‘t granted asylum.

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