Rights defenders assess probability of extradition of Chechen Movlaev from Kyrgyzstan

Recently, activists from Russia have often been detained in Kyrgyzstan under various pretexts, Dmitry Kabak, a legal expert, has noted in his comment on the threat of extradition of Mansur Movlaev, a Chechen resident, from there. In Kyrgyzstan, refugee status is very rarely granted, Vitaly Ponomaryov, a human rights defender, has noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that this August, in Kyrgyzstan, law enforcers detained Mansur Movlaev, who had been put on the wanted list in Russia within the case of financing extremism. On September 15, he applied for asylum in Kyrgyzstan. On October 4, the court sentenced Movlaev to six months in prison and subsequent deportation under the case of illegal border crossing.

In Kyrgyzstan, a system of facial recognition and data exchange has been launched with a number of countries, including Russia, said Dmitry Kabak, a law expert from Kyrgyzstan. Recently, according to his version, a lot of news has appeared about the detention of activists from Russia in Kyrgyzstan under various pretexts.

"By the law, authorities cannot extradite him to Turkey, if Russia has requested him. They will either agree to extradite him, or refuse, and then offer him to leave for another country. Or they will grant him refugee status, which is an extremely rare case for Kyrgyzstan," said Vitaly Ponomaryov, an expert on Central Asia.

Oyub Titiev, a human rights defender, doubts the due reasons for Movlaev's persecution.

"Cases are being fabricated. For example, you sent money to your brother abroad, and they may already treat it as financing extremism and terrorism. There are many such cases," Mr Titiev has noted, believing the threat to Movlaev's life quite likely. "Perhaps, if he is extradited, the first offer will be a contract (to participate in hostilities) in Ukraine," Oyub Titiev has concluded.