Movlaev's defense explained the purpose of his appeal to the European Parliament.
The UN Human Rights Committee's position on the case of Chechen native Mansur Movlaev does not preclude his extradition from Kazakhstan to Russia. Movlaev's extradition would violate international norms, and his appeal to the European Parliament is intended to convey to the Kazakh authorities the political consequences of such a move.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot," on May 18, a court upheld the decision to arrest Mansur Movlaev in Kazakhstan. This exhausted the legal avenues for appealing the arrest of the Chechen native. On May 21, Movlaev called on members of the European Parliament to record appeals to the Kazakh authorities calling for his extradition to Russia to be revoked.
In May 2025, Mansur 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 was granted asylum seeker status, providing him with temporary protection from being sent to Russia. In late December 2025, Kazakh authorities refused to grant Mansur Movlaev refugee status. On January 30, it was announced that the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan had ordered his extradition to Russian security forces. His defense appealed the decision. In February, the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan suspended the enforcement of the decision to extradite Movlaev pending the final review of his asylum application. Human rights defenders and activists considered a connection between this decision and Movlaev's appeal to the UN Human Rights Committee, which in February called on the Kazakh authorities to suspend Movlaev's extradition until this appeal was considered. On May 8, an Almaty court extended Movlaev's extradition arrest by two months, until July. Neither Movlaev nor his lawyers were present at the hearing.
The appeal against the administrative court's decision upholding the Kazakh Migration Department's refusal to grant asylum to Chechen native Mansur Movlaev, which will be heard on May 26, will not be the final step in the attempt to prevent Mansur Movlaev's extradition to Russia, his lawyer, Elena Zhigalenok, told the Caucasian Knot.
"After the appeal, there's also a cassation appeal, but this will be an appeal against a law that has already entered into force. Although the Prosecutor General's Office has stated that it is prepared to await the cassation appeal. But after the cassation appeal, defense options within Kazakhstan will be exhausted, leaving only international channels," she noted.
The UN Human Rights Committee's request to suspend Movlayev's extradition until his asylum application is considered by that body does not prevent his extradition, the lawyer pointed out.
"The only obstacle is the pending case regarding the denial of asylum in Kazakhstan. We don't know what will happen after the appeal. When I asked at a recent meeting with the Prosecutor General's Office whether the HRC's request would be taken into account, I was given a vague answer: "We will." In principle, the situation doesn't inspire much optimism, as Kazakhstan very rarely implements such decisions of international organizations. There are quite a few decisions, but almost none that have been implemented. The Human Rights Committee is now demanding a response from the state on Movlayev's case by the end of August. They will provide a report, but what actions they will take is unclear," she noted.
Movlayev's appeal to the European Parliament, according to Zhigalenok, was "an attempt to get someone—embassies, the OSCE, the European Parliament—to explain to Kazakhstan the consequences of his actions." "There is the Convention against Torture, which prohibits the extradition of people to countries where torture is practiced. And if Kazakhstan extradites Movlayev, it will appear as a country violating international norms. And that's bad for both the country's reputation and investment. In fact, that's what they should explain," she concluded.
Movlayev was born in 1995 in Shali. He told his lawyers that while studying at university, he helped the Chechen opposition movement "Adat" (an organization designated as extremist and banned in Russia) with information about people abducted by Kadyrov's men. "He was persecuted for this active position," his lawyer, Rena Kerimova, told Kursiv Media. In 2022, Movlaev was detained by security forces in Chechnya and held in an illegal prison. After escaping, he managed to reach Kyrgyzstan in January 2023. In August 2023, security forces in Kyrgyzstan detained Movlaev, who had been placed on the wanted list in Russia for financing extremist activities. A Bishkek court sentenced Movlaev to six months in prison and subsequent deportation. On November 20, 2023, Movlaev was released, but the deportation order remained in effect, and he voluntarily left Kyrgyzstan to avoid being sent home.
Caucasian Knot publishes materials on human rights violations in Chechnya, Kadyrov's attacks on the opposition, and his fight against dissent in the republic on the thematic page "Dissent in Chechnya".