Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court Suspends Extradition of Chechen Activist Mansur Movlaev

Earlier, the UN Human Rights Committee demanded that Kazakhstan refrain from extraditing the Chechen activist. Today, the term of detention of Mansur Movlaev under arrest has been extended until the final decision on granting him refugee status, Orda.kz reports.

The Supreme Court of Kazakhstan on February 24 suspended Movlaev’s extradition pending a decision on his refugee-status request. Lawyer Rena Kerimova shared a broadcast showing the court’s ruling.

«Under the decision, the extradition order against Movlaev (born December 12, 1995) is suspended until a final decision is made on granting him refugee status in Kazakhstan, in connection with the charges brought against him in Russia under Article 163 of the Russian Criminal Code (Part 1 and paragraph „d“ of Part 2).» the judge said.

The judge also ordered that the head of Almaty’s Department of Employment and Social Programmes be informed immediately of the outcome of the review of Movlaev’s application for refugee status and asylum.

The ruling has taken effect.

Original author: Alexander Smolin