Kazakhstan's Supreme Court has suspended Mansur Movlaev's extradition.
The extradition of Chechen native Mansur Movlaev to Russian authorities has been suspended pending the final review of his asylum application. The UN representative in Kazakhstan was present at the court hearing.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," at the end of December 2025, the commission for reviewing asylum applications in Kazakhstan refused to grant Mansur Movlaev refugee status. This decision was appealed, and Movlaev's defense team also submitted appeals to the relevant UN bodies requesting a stay of his extradition to Russia. On January 30, it was announced that the Kazakh Prosecutor General's Office had ordered the extradition of Chechen native Mansur Movlaev to Russian security forces. His defense had appealed this decision. On February 23, the UN Committee registered Movlaev's complaint and requested that Kazakhstan refrain from extraditing him until the committee had considered the complaint.
The Supreme Court of Kazakhstan has suspended the decision to extradite Chechen native Mansur Movlaev to Russia pending the final review of his refugee status application, his lawyer, Rena Kerimova, told the Caucasian Knot. “Thus, the court overturned the order of the Deputy Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan to extradite Movlaev,” she noted. According to Kerimova, representatives of the prosecutor's office tried to hold a closed hearing without the media. “Perhaps they wanted to resolve the issue behind closed doors, but the judge refused. Both the media and the UN representative in Kazakhstan were in the courtroom,” the lawyer added. The intervention of UN structures does not guarantee Movlaev’s protection from extradition from Kazakhstan to Russia, but it could still reduce the risk of his surrender to Chechen security forces, human rights activists noted. If extradited, Mansur Movlaev will be delivered to Chechnya, which is in the interests of the republic’s authorities. Extradition to Russia threatens Movlaev with torture and extrajudicial execution, Chechen activists stated earlier. Speaking about future plans, Kerimova noted that she, along with Movlaev's other lawyers, will continue to try to obtain refugee status for him. "We have not yet exhausted all options," she concluded. On her Instagram page*, Kerimova published a recording of a video conference with the Supreme Court. "The detention of Mansur Movlaev will be extended until a final decision on granting him refugee status, for a period of no less than one month. (...) The ruling comes into force from the moment it is announced," the court announced. Mansur Movlaev was born in 1995 in Shali. In 2022, Movlaev was detained by security forces in Chechnya and held in an illegal prison. He escaped and reached Kyrgyzstan in January 2023. In August 2023, security forces in Kyrgyzstan detained Movlaev, who was wanted in Russia for financing extremist activity. A court in Bishkek sentenced Movlaev to six months in prison and subsequent deportation from the country. On November 20, 2023, Movlaev was released, but the decision to deport him remained in effect, and he voluntarily left Kyrgyzstan to avoid being sent home. In October 2024, Mansur Movlaev reported the kidnapping of his relatives by security forces in Chechnya. "Two of my brothers, Zelimkhan and Khamzat, have been kidnapped. They are being held, tortured, and are trying to put pressure on me," he said in a published video. In May 2025, Movlaev, who had been placed on the wanted list by the Shali District Department of Chechnya, was detained in Kazakhstan and placed under extradition arrest. On May 21, he received asylum seeker status, giving him temporary protection from being sent to Russia.