San Jose women, Chico teen back home after being detained in Russia

Posted: 11/11/2014 06:18:24 PM PST

Updated: 11/11/2014 06:59:46 PM PST

SAN FRANCISCO -- Three relieved San Jose women and a Chico teen safely landed Tuesday in San Francisco, marking an end to a tense situation in Russia where they were detained four days over visa questions in a case experts say highlights the strained relationship between the country and the United States.

San Jose residents Liana Randazzo, 27, Quygen Ngo, 24, and Jennifer Phan, 21, and Chico resident Sterling Winter, 18, had gone to St. Petersburg to participate in an international leadership conference for young adults. But in a whirlwind sequence of events, they were escorted from the conference by Russian police, put on trial and faced penalties that included potential jail time before finally being allowed to leave the country.

'I am so happy to be home, and I am proud of what we did,' said Randazzo after giving her father, Joe, a bear-sized hug at San Francisco International Airport. 'We stood up for ourselves (to Russian officials). We learned as we lived it. Mission accomplished.'

Steve Fish, a professor of comparative politics at UC Berkeley, said he believes the group provided Russian leader Vladimir Putin a way to demonstrate to the Russian people his ever-growing influence and power.

'This will resonate with Russians,' he said. 'They will see this in the news and say, 'Finally, the Americans paid the price for a change.' A lot of Russians will nod their head and say how this was a good thing.'

The four were attending a closing session of the leadership conference Thursday in St. Petersburg when Russian police and immigration officials walked in, asking to see their visas, said June Thompson, executive director of the California Association of Student Councils, which sponsored the trip.

But after the group took investigators -- who were followed closely into the session by Russian media -- back to the hotel to show their documentation, the situation escalated.

Investigators began a grueling seven-hour interrogation of the Americans, first at the hotel and later at immigration offices nearly an hour outside of the city.

'When they asked to see our passports, I thought that was going to be it,' Randazzo said. U.S. state department officials 'told us that being detained was a new thing, so that increased the level of how scary it was for us and how restricted we felt.'

But more than fear, the group was curious, Ngo said. She said they all wanted to know just who was calling the shots, and who benefited from their detainment.

'When you are getting escorted by the government, you begin to wonder what is going on,' she said. 'There was some fear ... but I felt like we would be OK. I never thought that I would be stuck in Russia for forever, but if I was, I have new friends there now!'

Investigators told the group they were charged with using their tourist visas for purposes other than what they had marked on their travel documents, and said that their paperwork was incomplete. That same night, they had their first court appearance.

A judge continued the hearing to the next day, allowing the group to go back to their hotel on the condition they would not leave the country.

They were told a Russian judge had four options to deal with them: he could issue them a warning, a fine, deport them or at worst, jail them.

'It became very clear that this wasn't just about us, that there was a bigger argument being made here,' Randazzo said. 'We told the truth. We kept it simple. There was a bigger picture that we weren't aware of and didn't understand.'

Two Russian lawyers -- neither of whom spoke English -- were hired to represent the group, and U.S. State Department officials based in Russia also aided them.

During their hearing Monday, Evgeny Velikhov -- a renowned Russian scientist and founder of a sister program Thompson's organization partners with in Russia -- flew from Moscow to St. Petersburg to testify on the group's behalf, something both Thompson and Randazzo said 'was huge.'

The judge fined them $100 each for improper documentation, and though they had another week of meetings they could have attended, Thompson and other U.S. officials agreed the group needed to leave immediately.

It is still unclear what ramifications the group's detainment will hold; already a Russian delegation that was meant to come to the U.S. in January to participate in a workshop spearheaded by the leadership organization has been whittled down from four people to two representatives.

Why the government singled out the group is a mystery, but Ed Walker, an adjunct professor of political science at UC Berkeley, said this would not be the last time we hear about the Russian government randomly detaining Americans.

'This shows there are no boundaries,' he said. 'It's a reflection of how far and how intense hostility is between the two countries and how bad relations are. It's practically worse than (relations) were post Cuban missile crisis.'

Back home, the four Americans will resume their jobs and education.

Randazzo is expecting to receive a master's degree in organizational psychology from Alliant International University next year. Phan is a senior trainer for CASC, a graduate of Santa Teresa High and UC Santa Cruz, and works for the California Public Employees Association in San Jose; Ngo is also a senior trainer for CASC, a graduate of Piedmont Hill High and Brown University, and works for San Jose Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen; Winter is a senior at Chico High School.

At the airport Tuesday, the smiles did not fade as the group, one by one, headed home with their families. Joe Randazzo, who picked up his daughter from the airport, beamed with pride as he helped gather suitcases.

'My daughter was 23 before she was 13,' he said. 'I'm not surprised, she's all about doing the right thing. It is unfortunate that this experience ended in this mess, but it shows that we can take freedom for granted.'

Contact Katie Nelson at 408-920-5006 and follow her at http://ift.tt/1mrNKRf.

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