Human rights defenders: Chechen authorities interested in Movlaev’s extradition

After receiving a request for the extradition of Mansur Movlaev, the authorities of Kazakhstan should conduct an investigation, and in the case of a request for asylum, give a response. If Mansur Movlaev is extradited from Kazakhstan to Russia, then, in accordance with the law, he will be delivered to Chechnya, which is of interest to the authorities of the republic.

Mansur Movlaev is accused of drug possession and extremism, the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent has been informed by the Chechen “Vaifond” human rights association. Mansur Movlaev denies guilt and claims that the criminal case against him is fabricated and that it conceals political persecution of a dissident,” the Chechen “Vaifond” notes.

Human rights defender Oyub Titiev believes that the Chechen authorities are probably most interested in the extradition of Mansur Movlaev. “After all, he escaped from custody, and such shame is hard to bear for the authorities,” Oyub Titiev emphasized.

Human rights defender Ruslan Kutaev has suggested that both the Chechen authorities and the FSB officers, “who are trying to get him in the fabricated case,” may be interested in the Mansur Movlaev’s extradition.

Advocate Alexei Obolenets has noted that the issue of the possibility of extradition is regulated by the Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family, and Criminal Matters, which was concluded in Chisinau in 2002 and entered into force in the territory of the Russian Federation in 2023. “The issue of refusal of extradition is regulated by Article 89 of the Chisinau Convention. According to the Article, a person cannot be extradited if there are compelling grounds to believe that the extradition request is related to the persecution of a person on the basis of his or her race, gender, religion, ethnicity, or political beliefs, or if, according to the legislation of the country where the person is located, a case on the charge in question cannot be instituted or the sentence cannot be executed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, or if the person has been granted asylum,” the advocate explained.

Alexei Obolenets has also added that there is no possibility of extraditing Mansur Movlaev to another region other than Chechnya. “An extradited person is to be transported to the region where the crime for which he or she is being extradited was committed, and there are no other options,” the advocate emphasized.

If Mansur Movlaev did not apply for political asylum in Kazakhstan and did not report that he faced danger in Russia, then in such case the authorities of Kazakhstan cannot simply refuse to extradite him to Russia, Svetlana Gannushkina*, the chair of the “Civic Assistance Committee”, has emphasized. “The extradition request must be checked to ensure that what he is accused of is a crime in Kazakhstan itself. And if Mansur Movlaev applies for political asylum, his asylum request must be considered,” Svetlana Gannushkina* emphasized.

According to her information, when a native of Chechnya is being extradited to Russia, then state border guards detain the person, call a convoy from Chechnya, and the person is being transported to Chechnya. “As I was once told by Russian state border guards, there is a verbal agreement on this kind of action,” the human rights defender stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 17, 2025 at 02:55 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**On April 20, 2015, information appeared on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of the Russian Federation that the "Civic Assistance" Committee was included in the list of foreign agents.