Dive for freedom pays off
NZPA Canberra A teen-aged Russian girl who defected from a cruise ship at Sydney on Sunday evening will probably be allowed to stay in Australia, said the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr lan Sinclair) yesterday. Mr Sinclair said that Lillian Gasinskayoy, aged 18, did not specifically qualify for political asylum, but would probably be allowed to stay under other immigration criteria.
Miss Gasinskayoy, wearing only a red bikini, dived through a porthole of the cruise liner Leonid Sobinov into Sydney Harbour, and swam about the wharves at Pyrmont for almost 40 minutes looking for a place to climb ashore. While in the water she had to avoid patrolling Russian crewmen and searchlights on board the ship. A man walking his dog found the cold, shivering girl on a street. She asked him for clothes and in broken English explained that she had escaped from the Leonid Sobinov to seek political asylum in Australia.
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Press, 17 January 1979, Page 1
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159Dive for freedom pays off Press, 17 January 1979, Page 1
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