From right to left: Chechnyan Mufti Salakh Mezhiyev, Russia's president Vladimir Putin, head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov and his advisor tAmrudi Edilgiriev. Image by Kremlin.ru via via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 4.0. Ramzan Kadyrov over many years has come under criticism from international organizations for a wide array of human rights abuses under his government, with Human Rights Watch calling the forced disappearances and torture so widespread that they constituted crimes against humanity.
Chechen opposition activist Mansur Movlaev, known for his criticism of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, has been detained in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Mediazona reports, citing Radio Azattyk.
A court in Kazakhstan authorized on May 17, 2025, the temporary detention of Chechen activist Mansur Movlaev for a period of 40 days. This was reported by Murat Adam, one of the lawyers representing him.
The lawyers emphasized that both they and Movlaev had requested exactly this decision from the court, considering it “the only measure that ensures his safety.” As reported by Radio Liberty, after meeting with him at the temporary detention facility, lawyer Rena Kerimova told Azattyk Asia that he expressed deep concern for his life. According to Movlaev, if he is extradited to Chechnya, “they will kill him there, which is why he wants to stay here.”
After the hearing, Murat Adam said:
Now we will file a request for asylum on behalf of our client, Mansur Movlaev. We are pleased with the decision made by the investigative court and will not appeal it.
He also stated that, during the hearing, he filed a motion to present a video recording of a public execution of Chechen activists in Chechnya.
It’s absolutely horrifying. People are just standing and watching, while women cry [at the sight of] the activist’s body lying on the ground. The investigative judge requested the video to be sent to the court and reviewed it privately, without us present. Naturally, she was also horrified. I had to submit this motion so that the judge would understand how real the threat to Mansur Movlaev’s life is if he is extradited to the Chechen Republic.
The lawyers also reported that the prosecutor confirmed there are no criminal cases filed against Movlaev in Kazakhstan. However, that does not diminish his chances of extradition. Russia and Kazakhstan are close political and security allies, with poor human rights records and a legal framework for the prosecution and extradition of political dissidents. Additionally, Kazakhstan has never granted political asylum to the the citizens of neighboring states. Thus, the best case scenario for Movlaev would be relocating somewhere safe upon his eventual release, which does not seem likely.
Movlaev is known for his criticism of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. On August 20, 2023, members of the Chechen opposition movement 1ADAT released a video on their YouTube channel dedicated to Movlaev. In the video, bloggers stated that, in 2020, security forces illegally held the opposition activist in prison and tortured him.
Later, Movlaev managed to escape to Kyrgyzstan, from where he intended to fly to Turkey. However, he was detained at Russia’s request. Kyrgyz security services claimed he was wanted through an international warrant on suspicion of ties to the “terrorist underground.”
In October 2023, a court sentenced Movlaev to six months in a penal colony and ordered his subsequent deportation to Russia. The activist himself asked the court to give him the maximum sentence — up to ten years — as he felt “safer in Kyrgyzstan than in his homeland.” During the hearing, he told journalists that if he returned to Russia, he would “fall into the hands of murderers.” He was freed on parole after only two months and left Kyrgyzstan at that point but, in May 2025, was once again detained in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Global Voices talked to a representative of NIYSO (North Caucasus Independent Youth Solidarity Organization), Ansar Dishni, one of the opposition Chechen movements.
According to TV channel Nastoyaschee Vremya(“Current Time”), NIYSO (translated from Chechen as “equality” or “justice”) was founded in August 2022. The members of the movement describe themselves as information activists. Their Telegram channel is one of the few sources of information coming out of Chechnya. They report on kidnappings carried out by Kadyrov’s forces, and some posts are published in the Chechen language. Due to their criticism of Ramzan Kadyrov and his inner circle, the relatives of movement members have been repeatedly taken to police stations.
GV: What is currently known about Movlaev’s condition?
NIYSO: Unfortunately, at the moment we have no reliable information about Mansur’s condition. We have no direct contact with him, nor with the activists or human rights defenders handling his case. Everything we know comes from open sources and media reports.
GV: Chechen activists are currently most concerned that the Kazakhstani authorities may extradite Movlaev to Russia, where they believe he faces torture or possibly even death. What are these concerns based on? Are there any precedents?
NIYSO: These fears are not hypothetical — they’re based on real, repeated incidents. We’ve already seen countries like Kazakhstan, Belarus, or Armenia hand over individuals persecuted by the Russian authorities for political reasons. These include former resistance members, activists, or simply people the regime finds undesirable.
One such case already occurred in Kazakhstan: a man associated with the Chechen resistance was extradited to Russia and is now serving a life sentence. There’s an even more tragic story — that of Yasin Khalidov, a former law enforcement officer who fled to Kazakhstan. He was detained right at the border, deported — and has since disappeared. There’s been no information about his fate.
We don’t understand why these governments continue cooperating with Russian security services, fully aware that extradition almost guarantees torture or death. That is the reality we live in.
GV: So the Russian authorities have been “hunting” Movlaev since 2020 simply for openly criticizing the regime in Chechnya? Is all this persecution really just for public criticism?
NIYSO: We did not personally know Mansur; everything we know about him comes from public sources. As far as we can tell, he spoke out critically against the Russian authorities in Chechnya and may have been involved in some kind of activism — but we don’t have specific details.
That said, in Chechnya, it doesn’t take much. Leaving a critical comment online can be enough to trigger persecution, abduction, or torture — and unfortunately, that’s not uncommon. These are part of the region’s everyday practices. Even simple public criticism of the regime can lead to repression. Russian security services apply particularly harsh methods when it comes to Chechnya and Chechens.
GV: In your opinion, is there any chance that the Kazakhstani authorities will take into account the dangers Mansur faces if deported, and decide not to extradite him to Russia?
NIYSO: We don’t know what position Kazakhstan currently holds on this case. We’re unaware of any official or unofficial agreements between them and Russia regarding extradition. But based on past cases, we fear that if the Russian side aggressively pushes for extradition, the Kazakhstani authorities may comply.
Sadly, it seems today that the likelihood of extradition is higher than the chance of protection.
As Stephen Phillips, researcher from the Institute for Human Rights at the Åbo Akademi, Finland, commented via email to Global Voices:
In this case as long as the person in question is in Kazakhstan there isn't much that human rights organizations can do besides put public and private pressure on Kazakhstan to not cooperate with the Russian authorities on requests for extradition, and for organizations to pressure also their own governments to put pressure on Kazakhstan. In terms of the law there is no international body that has jurisdiction over Kazakhstan that could force any sort of binding ban on them cooperating with Russia in these matters, not even on a case by case basis.
