2 Await Appeal in Russia Deportation Case
By Associated Press
Tue May 2, 5:44 AM

MOSCOW - An American and a Briton have appealed an order by a Russian court that they be deported for illegally crossing the Russian border by walking across the frozen Bering Strait from Alaska, the Briton's father said Tuesday.

Karl Bushby, a former British paratrooper who is halfway through his attempt to complete a round-the-world walk, and his American travel companion Dimitry Kieffer, were detained in the Far East region of Chukotka on April 1 and ordered to be deported two weeks later.

They were also slapped with a fine and a five-year travel ban, which would prevent Bushby from continuing his journey.

A district court in the Chukotka capital of Anadyr received Bushby's appeal Tuesday, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported, citing court officials.

Keith Bushby said his son wants to be the first person to walk around the world _ from South America to Alaska into Russia and then Europe. Karl Bushby, 37, has walked 17,000 miles since he began his trip on Nov. 1, 1998. Kieffer had accompanied him only on the Bering Strait leg.

Keith Bushby told The Associated Press by telephone from Britain that his son hoped Russian authorities would allow him to fly back to Alaska, collect all the necessary documents and return to the Chukotka village where his trip was interrupted.

"Karl would like to walk the full length of Russia," he said.

Keith Bushby said if his son loses the appeal, he would not return home but would wait five years to return to Russia and continue his journey.

The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Karl Bushby as saying in Anadyr that the travelers had indeed broken Russian law, but still hoped that authorities would let them return. "We were being told that we had violated (the law) and we could not deny it," he said.

The appeal process could take up to four months to work its way through the court system.

___

On the Net:

Karl Bushby's Web site: http