Movlaev's lawyers called on the Kazakh authorities to influence his fate

The defense asked the Kazakh authorities to stop any actions aimed at extraditing Mansur Movlaev, to guarantee the observance of his rights, and to ensure that his asylum application is considered, stating that his life is in danger in Chechnya.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, the process of extraditing Chechen native Mansur Movlaev to Russia has been stopped until Kazakhstan considers his asylum request. The ECHR does not apply to Kazakhstan and the country's authorities will decide for themselves whether to comply with the decisions of the UN Human Rights Committee in the case of extraditing Chechen native Mansur Movlaev to Russia. The deadline for considering Chechen native Mansur Movlaev's asylum request in Kazakhstan expires on August 19, but a hearing on this matter has not yet been scheduled, the lawyer said. The delay in the process makes one fear for Movlaev's fate, commentators on the lawyer's social network noted.

The appeal of Movlaev's defense to the Kazakh authorities was published on the Instagram pages* of one of his lawyers, Murat Adam, and on the Free_mansour_movlaev page.

In the appeal, the lawyers recalled that a meeting of the asylum committee has not been scheduled, despite the fact that Movlaev's asylum-seeking status certificate is expiring. "The delay in considering the case puts Mansur Movlaev in an uncertain legal position and violates his right to a timely and fair administrative trial," the defense said.

The lawyers recalled that according to the Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the laws of Kazakhstan, "it is strictly prohibited to extradite a person to a country where he may face a real risk of being subjected to torture and other forms of persecution."

The authors of the appeal asked "to stop any actions aimed at the extradition of Mansur Movlaev," to guarantee the observance of his rights, to ensure the consideration of his application for asylum, and, if necessary, to provide additional protection (temporary shelter or refugee status).

"The fate of Mansur Movlaev directly depends on the decisions made by the Kazakh authorities. If Movlaev is extradited to Russia, you risk becoming accomplices in his possible murder or inhuman treatment. Mansur Movlaev has no opportunity to receive a fair trial in Russia for reasons related to his political views and nationality," the lawyers said.

By 13:56 Moscow time, this post on Murat Adam's page, which has 3,368 subscribers, had garnered 81 likes, and on the page created by the defense demanding Mansur Movlaev's release, which has 104 subscribers, there were eight "likes."

Recall that earlier, the lawyers of Chechen native Mansur Movlaev themselves asked to place him in a pretrial detention center out of fear for his safety, but after an Ingush suspect in the murder was admitted to the facility, a threat to Movlaev arose there as well.

While studying at the university, Mansur Movlaev helped the Chechen opposition movement "Adat" (an organization recognized as extremist, its activities are banned in Russia) with information about the kidnapped people. In 2020, Movlaev was sentenced in Russia to two years in prison on charges of drug trafficking. He told his lawyers that investigators gave him two articles to "choose": possession of weapons or drugs, and he had to go to prison in any case. In 2022, Movlaev was released on parole, but was detained by security forces in Chechnya and held in an illegal prison. From there, he fled and in January 2023, he was able to illegally reach Kyrgyzstan after a case of financing extremism was fabricated against him.

In August 2023, security forces in Kyrgyzstan detained Movlaev, who was wanted in Russia in a case of financing extremist activity. On October 4, 2023, a court in Bishkek sentenced Movlaev to six months in prison and subsequent deportation from the country. In October 2024, Mansur Movlaev announced the kidnapping of his relatives by security forces in Chechnya.

* the activities of the Meta company (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) are prohibited in Russia.