Afghan journalist who was denied asylum in Russia reportedly returns to Afghanistan, where she could face death penalty

Afghan journalist Kobra Hassani, who fled Afghanistan and applied for asylum in Russia after the Taliban came to power, flew from Moscow to Kabul on Tuesday, the St. Petersburg news outlet Fontanka has reported.

In May 2023, a Russian court ordered for Hassani to be deported from Russia. Later, she was charged with attempting to illegally leave Russia for the E.U. as part of a group and by prior conspiracy. In January 2024, her asylum application was denied. The following month, the court found her guilty of the border crossing charges but ruled that her sentence had been served during her time in pre-trial detention and overturned her deportation order.

According to Hassani’s lawyers, there were a number of countries where she could try again to obtain asylum, “from Albania to Germany,” but they all would have required “effort, time, and money.”

Hassani’s lawyers said they learned of her departure from members of the Afghan diaspora in St. Petersburg. Her lawyer Yelena Fadeeva speculated that her defendant “no longer had the strength” to remain in Russia and “didn’t see any realistic options” apart from returning to Afghanistan.

Before the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, Hassani worked as a TV journalist there and was an outspoken advocate for women’s rights. She has previously said that she would face “death and persecution by the Taliban” if she returned to the country.