Russia refuses entry of 16 Aum members

Japan Today/December 19, 2001

Moscow -- Russia has refused entry to 16 members of the Tokyo-based Aum Shinrikyo religious cult this year, Federal Security Service (FSB) head Nikolay Patrushev said Tuesday, according to Interfax news agency.

The FSB declined to make public the nationality of the members or the purpose of their attempted visits. Aum, which now calls itself Aleph, claims it used to have several tens of thousand followers in Russia. It is now outlawed in the country.