Singer and television anchor Fakhre Alam was detained at the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport in Russia after he landed in the country with an expired visa, it emerged on Monday.
Alam, who earlier this month embarked on a journey to fly around the world in 28 days, told actor Faysal Quraishi that he arrived in Russia two hours after the expiration of his visa, following which he was taken into custody by local authorities.
In a message — posted by the actor on the singer’s behalf — Alam said that he was being held “in a room without food or water”, and claimed that his phone was confiscated by the Russian authorities for six hours.
Faysal Quraishi✔@faysalquraishi
Bro please tweet on my behalf. I am being detained at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport because my visa expired 2 hours and date changed. They are forcing me to turn back to Japan. I cannot go to Japan because I had single entry visa. I appeal to Pak govt to request Russian govt to allow
Faysal Quraishi✔@faysalquraishi
me to continue my journey to Alaska. I don’t want to give up Mission Parwaaz. I need Pakistan’s support to carry on our flag to finish this.I have been in a room without food or water. No Wi-Fi. They didn’t give me my phone for 6 hours. I NEED HELP
Alam further said that the Russian authorities were insisting that he flies back to Japan, adding that that was not possible as he only had a single-entry visa. He appealed the government to help him as he did not “want to give up Mission Parwaaz”.
“I need Pakistan’s support to carry on our flag to finish this,” Alam said in his message. “I need help.”
The Foreign Office took notice of Alam’s detention and said that “they were looking into the matter”.
