Chechen Mansur Movlaev's extradition arrest has been extended again, now allowing him to be held for up to 20 months, reports infohub.kz.
Former municipal district council deputy of Voronezh Region Nina Belyaeva reported this. The Almaty investigating court made the decision to extend the arrest on July 13.
“The investigating judge of the specialized inter-district investigating court of Almaty, A.A. Abdirov, extended Mansur Movlaev's extradition arrest to 20 months. Previously, such an arrest in Kazakhstan did not exceed 12 months,” Belyaeva wrote on social media.
She also said that about a week ago, Movlaev applied to the Kazakhstan office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He asked to be included in the refugee resettlement program. There has been no response yet.
Mansur Movlaev criticized the Chechen authorities. In 2020, he was convicted in Russia on drug possession charges. He spent about a year and a half in prison and was released on parole in 2022. Later, he was detained again, beaten, and held in an unknown location. He managed to escape.
After that, the Chechen activist left Russia. In 2023, he was detained in Kyrgyzstan for illegal border crossing and sentenced to six months in prison. Later, the court ordered his deportation.
Movlaev then ended up in Kazakhstan, where he was detained again. Russia is seeking his extradition. He was denied asylum in Kazakhstan.