Kazakhstan will not grant asylum to Mansur Movlaev, who is wanted by Russia
A Kazakh court in Akmola Oblast has rejected Chechen activist Mansur Movlaev's claim challenging his asylum denial. The court found that the denial of refugee status does not lead to extradition to Russia, and his lawyers failed to provide convincing evidence of a threat to Movlaev's life in his home country.
In January, Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General's Office approved the activist's extradition to Russia. The country's Supreme Court subsequently suspended the extradition. The lawyers will now appeal this latest decision to a higher court.
Mansur Movlaev is wanted by Russian authorities on charges of financing extremism for a money transfer that, according to the Chechen opposition movement "Adat," was carried out by security forces themselves. He previously spent two years in a Russian prison colony on drug possession charges, which he believes were fabricated due to his political activism.
After his release in 2022, Movlaev was kidnapped and tortured in an illegal prison in Chechnya, 1ADAT reported. In 2023, he managed to escape to Kyrgyzstan, and in May 2025, he was detained in Kazakhstan at Russia's request.
