Mansur Movlayev Photo from social networks
Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General's Office has said it sees no legal grounds to block the extradition of Chechen activist Mansur Movlayev to Russia. Movlayev is being held in a pretrial detention facility in Almaty. His lawyer, Yelena Zhigalenok, told «Azattyk Asia» about the response.
She had earlier asked the Prosecutor General's Office to comply with the interim measures of the UN Human Rights Committee and to release Movlayev from extradition arrest on bail.
The office's reply, dated October 1, says the authorized body denied Movlayev refugee status. He appealed the denials in the court of first instance, the appellate court and the cassation court, but all appeals were rejected.
«Thus, in connection with the entry into force of judicial acts refusing asylum, there are no legal grounds preventing the execution of the decision on his extradition and release from extradition arrest,» the lawyer quoted the agency's response as saying.
The office added that it had earlier granted a request from Russia's Prosecutor General's Office to extradite Movlayev. It therefore sees no grounds to replace extradition arrest with bail.
«The criminal procedural legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan does not provide for the application of alternative interim measures other than extradition arrest after a decision on the transfer (extradition) of a person has been made,» the response states.
The office also described the interim measures of the UN Human Rights Committee as «recommendatory» in nature.
«Taking into account the foregoing, the entry into force of judicial acts and decisions of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the recommendatory nature of the request of the UN Human Rights Committee, there are no legal grounds for releasing M. Movlayev from extradition arrest and preventing his transfer to the requesting party,» the agency concluded.
Zhigalenok voiced concern over the Kazakh authorities' stance.
«This response, in my personal opinion, shows that the Prosecutor General's Office will not comply with the norms of international law, in particular Article 3 of the Convention against Torture, which prohibits extraditing people to states where there is a risk of torture or a practice of gross human rights violations,» she said.
She noted that the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, has issued two reports stating that Movlayev personally faces a risk of torture.
«Now it is unknown what will happen. Either extradition [to Russia] at any time, or... we still hope that our state will comply with the international treaty,» Zhigalenok said.
The lawyer has appealed to the Supreme Court, which, she said, can in exceptional cases review cassation and lower-court decisions on refugee denials.
Movlayev is a member of the opposition movement Adat, which opposes Ramzan Kadyrov's regime. In 2020, he was convicted in Russia on drug trafficking charges, which Chechen activists say were fabricated.
After his parole in 2022, Movlayev says, Chechen police officers abducted him and held him in a secret prison. He later escaped to Kyrgyzstan and then to Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, Russia put him on its federal wanted list in an extremism case.
In May 2025, he was detained in Almaty at Moscow's request and placed under extradition arrest. He sought refugee status in Kazakhstan but was refused. On February 23, the UN Human Rights Committee registered his complaint and urged Kazakhstan not to extradite him to Russia until it considers the appeal.
While in custody, Movlayev twice attempted suicide. In a suicide note, he linked his decision to the threat of extradition to Russia.
