Canada blocks citizenship for Russian blogger who criticised Ukraine war. [update: Canada reverses course, will grant citizenship says Minister of Immigration]

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A Russian anti-war activist is facing the prospect of deportation from Canada after her citizenship application was blocked on the grounds that her blogposts had broken Moscow’s harsh laws criminalizing criticism of the invasion of Ukraine.

The decision, first reported by the CBC, which has baffled immigration lawyers, faults Maria Kartasheva over criminal charges leveled by Russian prosecutors, even though her dissent mirrors Canada’s foreign policy.

Kartasheva, founder of the Russian Canadian democratic alliance, fled her homeland in 2019 amid concern over Vladimir Putin’s growing crackdown on dissent .

Justin Trudeau’s government has been deeply critical of the Russian state, sanctioning many officials – including the judge who oversaw Kartasheva’s arrest in absentia.

In December, Canadian officials told her in a letter that her conviction in Russia aligns with a criminal code offence relating to spreading false information.

Another expert, the University of Toronto law professor Audrey Macklin, said the case appeared the result of an “over-zealous” citizenship officer and questioned the decision to pull her during the ceremony.

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