Instead of a triumphant finish to a 13,000-kilometer bicycle journey trough the Eurasian landmass and a world record, a French cyclist has found himself in a Russian detention center.
French and Russian media reported that 44-year-old Sofiane Sehili, an experienced cyclist and filmmaker, has been arrested in Russia’s Far East and sent to pretrial detention — just 400 kilometers short of his goal.
Sehili was arrested after crossing the Russian border with China for the last leg of his attempt to break the world speed record for the journey from Lisbon to Vladivostok.
Russia’s TASS and Interfax news agencies said the man, who was detained in early September, had been sent until at least October 4 to a pretrial detention facility in Ussuriysk in the Primorsky region – some 6,400 kilometers east of Moscow.
Interfax reported that the cyclist’s lawyer, Alla Kushnir, is seeking milder restrictions to be placed on the man while the case is pending.
“An appeal against the court decision to take him into custody has already been filed with the Primorsky regional court,” Kushnir was quoted as saying, suggesting possible house arrest instead of detention.
Sehili has been charged with illegally crossing the Russian state border, which is punishable with a fine of up to 200,000 rubles (about $2,400), up to two years of compulsory labor, or up to two years behind bars, the lawyer said.
French news agency AFP quoted a government-linked prison monitoring organization official who visited Sehili in jail as saying the cyclist had a Russian e-visa but had “tried to cross the border on foot at a checkpoint only accessible for Russian and Chinese citizens.”
“Then he went to another crossing, where it is forbidden to cross on a bike, you need to go on train or bus,” Vladimir Naidin of the Primorsky region’s monitoring commission was quoted as telling AFP by phone.
He said Sehili was in good health but was struggling to communicate with officials at the detention facility because of the language barrier.
Sehili left Lisbon on July 1 and planned to break the world speed record for crossing Eurasia by bicycle. His end point was Vladivostok.
Sehili had earlier crossed into Russia from Georgia, then left the country in the Astrakhan region. He then journeyed through, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, and China.
He was seeking to break the record of German Jonas Deichmann, who in 2017 crossed Eurasia in 64 days, two hours, and 26 minutes.
Sehili has taken part in about 20 multi-kilometer races, including the Tour Divide, a 4,500-kilometer race from Canada to Mexico.
In his Instagram journal, Sehili said hours before his arrest: “It’s the last day. Yesterday, I rode a couple of hours in the rain. I’m going to put on my wet clothes. I’m going to get on my bike, and I’m going to ride to Vladivostok.”
Russia has arrested a number of foreigners on charges that rights groups say are often trumped-up allegations.
Moscow has used these detainees as part of swaps to win the release of Russian held elsewhere, often on serious criminal or spying charges.