Movlaev's relatives announced a fundraising campaign for legal assistance.
To prepare a response to Kazakhstan's arguments in the UN Human Rights Committee regarding the case of Chechen activist Mansur Movlaev, it is necessary to raise funds for legal assistance, which will allow for the presentation of additional evidence of threats of torture and persecution of the activist in the event of his extradition to Russia, explained Movlaev's relatives, who announced the fundraising.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on October 11, participants in pickets outside the Kazakh embassy in Yerevan demanded that Russia not extradite Chechen activist Mansur Movlaev.
On February 23 of this year, the UN Human Rights Committee registered a complaint from Mansur Movlaev and as an urgent interim measure, requested the Kazakh authorities to refrain from extraditing him to Russia until the complaint is considered. On February 24, the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan suspended the execution of the extradition decision until the final consideration of Movlaev's asylum petition. Lawyer Timofey Shirokov, who did not participate in the case, assessed on January 18 the intervention of UN structures as a measure that by itself would not stop the execution of the extradition decision. The Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan considered the UN Human Rights Committee's request to refrain from extraditing Movlaev to Russia as advisory. In a response dated October 1, the agency referred to the judicial decisions that had come into force regarding the denial of asylum and stated that there were no legal obstacles to extradition.
Movlaev's relatives announced a fundraising campaign for legal assistance. According to them, the fundraising was announced after Kazakhstan presented its position on Movlaev's complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee, reported on November 8 by Movlaev's support group on their Instagram*-page free_mansour_movlaev.
"A new, extremely important stage has now begun. Kazakhstan has presented its position to the Committee, and it is necessary to prepare a legally substantiated response, refute the state's arguments, and present additional evidence of threats of torture and persecution of Mansur in the event of extradition," the publication stated.
The goal of the fundraising is 12,000 Swiss francs, or about 14,600 dollars, clarified Movlaev's support group.
"This work will require about 40 hours, with the cost of one hour being 300 Swiss francs. We can no longer raise such an amount on our own, so we are reaching out for help to all of you for the first time," wrote the author of the publication. The message stated that Movlaev's relatives paid for the preparation and submission of the complaint to the UN themselves.
Recall that in 2022, Mansur Movlaev was detained by security forces in Chechnya and held in an illegal prison. In January 2023, he escaped from there and made it to Kyrgyzstan. In August 2023, security forces in Kyrgyzstan detained Movlaev, who was wanted in Russia on charges of financing extremism. A court in Bishkek sentenced him to six months in a penal colony followed by deportation from the country. On November 20, 2023, Movlaev was released and left Kyrgyzstan on his own to avoid being sent back home.
In May 2025, Movlaev was detained in Kazakhstan and placed under extradition arrest. On January 30 of this year, the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan decided to extradite him to the Russian authorities. On September 10, it became known that the cassation court in Kazakhstan found no violations in the refusal to grant Movlaev asylum. After that, Movlaev, who was held in a Kazakhstani pre-trial detention center, attempted suicide.
Materials on human rights violations in Chechnya, Kadyrov's attacks on the opposition, and his struggle against dissent in the republic are published by "Caucasian Knot" on a special thematic page "Dissent in Chechnya".