RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b) File Name: 20a0223p.06 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT ANDREI SKRIPKOV, ┐ Petitioner, │ │ > No. 19-3922 v. │ │ │ WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, │ Respondent. │ ┘ On Petition for Review from the Board of Immigration Appeals; No. A 201 355 193. Argued: April 27, 2020 Decided and Filed: July 20, 2020 Before: GILMAN, DONALD, and LARSEN, Circuit Judges. _________________ COUNSEL ARGUED: Brenna Duncan, PERKINS COIE, LLP, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Arthur L. Rabin, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. ON BRIEF: Brenna Duncan, Nathan Kelley, Andrew Caridas, PERKINS COIE, LLP, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Arthur L. Rabin, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. GILMAN, J., delivered the opinion of the court in which DONALD, J., joined. LARSEN, J. (pp. 16–17), delivered a separate opinion concurring in the judgment. No. 19-3922 Skripkov v. Barr Page 2 _________________ OPINION _________________ RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge. Andrei Skripkov, a citizen of Russia, seeks review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) upholding an Immigration Judge’s (IJ’s) denial of his application for asylum and the withholding of removal. Skripkov asserted in his application that he was persecuted in his home country on account of his political opinion. He specifically contended that his anticorruption whistleblowing activities motivated Russian officials to persecute him. The IJ and the BIA, on the other hand, found that the officials were motivated solely by their pecuniary interest in furthering a corrupt scheme disrupted by Skripkov. In his petition for review, Skripkov argues that the BIA erred in disregarding evidence that he would be criminally prosecuted for his political opinion if he is returned to Russia. For the reasons set forth below, we GRANT Skripkov’s petition for review and REMAND the case to the BIA for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. I. BACKGROUND A. Factual background Skripkov is a former civil servant from the Chelyabinsk region of Russia. In 2000, he began working as an event planner for the Chelyabinsk regional government, and in 2008 he was appointed to lead the government enterprise responsible for organizing banquets and mass events in Chelyabinsk. He also served on a commission that oversaw government procurement activities. Skripkov’s anticorruption activism began in 2010, when the president of Russia appointed Mikhail Yurevich as governor of the Chelyabinsk region and Aleksander Ufimtsev as deputy governor. The new regional leadership began directing Skripkov to accept bids from specified suppliers at inflated prices. After Skripkov refused to comply with these directives, Deputy Governor Ufimtsev warned him that “we will find justice on [sic] you.” Skripkov began No. 19-3922 Skripkov v. Barr Page 3 receiving what he characterized as “[c]onstant threats” for his refusal, causing him to resign from his position within the Chelyabinsk government. Even after resigning from his position, Skripkov received threatening phone calls from unknown callers and his front door was defaced with messages. These threats caused Skripkov and his ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals