French cyclist Sofiane Sekhili left Russia after the court decision

French cyclist Sofiane Sehili, who was found guilty of illegally crossing the Russian state border, has left the country, flying to his homeland via Thailand. This was announced on October 24 by his lawyer Alla Kushnir.

"Sofiane Sekhili took off from Vladivostok Airport this morning on a flight to Phuket, from where he will go home to France," Kushnir said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

A court in Primorye found Sekhili guilty of violating the border of the Russian Federation, but released him from a fine of 50 thousand rubles, counting his stay in jail. The cyclist was released in the courtroom. He expressed satisfaction with the decision and joy at the end of the trial. The lawyer added that Sehili chose the route through Thailand, as there are no direct flights to Europe, and this route turned out to be the most convenient. The cyclist must arrive in France before Sunday, as his visa expires in two days.

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A French cyclist was detained on September 6 for illegally crossing the border in Vladivostok. It was clarified that since July of this year, the cyclist traveled through Tajikistan, Mongolia and China.

On September 18, Vladimir Naidin, Chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission (POC) of Primorsky Krai, reported that the detainee had told about his intention to cross the Russian-Chinese border. Due to a misunderstanding, the man was not allowed to ride his bike at the checkpoint, so he decided to "cut off" in another place.

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