Kolkata: A Ukrainian national, who was jailed for overstaying here, has preferred to continue in the prison even after completing his term in 2003 as he fears that his conversion to Buddhism may attract capital punishment in his motherland.  

The man, Vladimir Pasko, arrived in India in 1999 and visited Dharmasala in Himachal Pradesh where influenced by the Dalai Lama, he embraced Buddhism and was given a new name, Jhumpa.  

Pasko was subsequently arrested in Darjeeling and sent to the Presidency jail here after his conviction in 2003.  His prison term ended the same year but he refused to return to his country fearing that he might be awarded capital punishment there because of conversion.  "As the orthodox church will not accept him in Ukraine and he might face capital punishment,

Pasko is seeking political asylum and has appealed to the President, the West Bengal Governor and the state government, his lawyer Dipankar Mukherjee said today.  "We have tried make Pasko return to his own country, but as he is unwilling, we have forwarded his request for asylum to the Home Department," he said.  "We will also write to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees so that he can stay in India without being in jail," Mukherjee said.

 

Source : PTI