A cassation court in Kazakhstan has denied asylum to Yulia Yemelyanova, a former volunteer with Alexei Navalny’s St. Petersburg campaign office. Margarita Kuchusheva, a representative of the Russian Antiwar Committee, told The Insider that Kazakhstan can now begin the process of extraditing Yemelyanova to Russia. Yemelyanova’s lawyers plan to appeal to Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court in the coming days.
Rights advocates have asked the United Nations to impose emergency measures in Yemelyanova’s case by issuing a special order from the UN Human Rights Committee barring a country from extraditing a person while their case is under review. Kuchusheva said Kazakh authorities are currently coordinating with Russia on the time and place of the extradition of another Russian citizen, Chechen activist Mansur Movlaev, even though UN emergency measures are already in effect in his case. As Kuchusheva explained:
“Despite unprecedented pressure from the UN, PACE, international politicians and diplomats, Kazakhstan has nevertheless decided to commit a crime and hand Yulia [Yemelyanova] and Mansur [Movlaev] over to Russia. I am ashamed to watch a large and independent country, which had every chance to be independent and free, ingratiate itself with Russia. They know perfectly well what Chechnya is and what justice in Russia is like. They know, but they prefer to curry favor with a dictator.
We have applied for UN emergency measures, but there is no certainty that Kazakhstan will follow them. In Mansur’s case, they have effectively already ignored them by beginning to coordinate his extradition with Russia. So it is important to see how the UN responds to the fact that the emergency measures and the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, have been ignored. If they do nothing or simply ‘express concern,’ it could set a very dangerous precedent.”
As The Insider previously reported, both Yemelyanova and Movlaev, who were detained by Kazakh authorities, wrote to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in July asking him to stop their extradition to Russia. Representatives of the Russian Antiwar Committee, the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR/IGFM), and the Kovcheg (lit. “Ark”) project also called on Kazakhstan’s president to halt both extraditions, release the activists, and allow them safe passage to third countries.
Earlier this month, Movlaev attempted suicide in a pretrial detention center in Kazakhstan. Doctors, however, were able to save his life. In a note written before the attempt, he asked the authorities to “at least save Yulia” by preventing her extradition to Russia. Movlaev and his defense team believe that if he is extradited, he will be killed in his home region of Chechnya.
Russian authorities have opened a criminal case against Movlaev on extortion and extremism charges, while Yemelyanova faces a theft charge.
In April, The Insider published a detailed report on the worsening situation facing anti-war Russians who seek asylum or refuge both in Western countries and in states neighboring Russia. Rights advocates interviewed for the article said Kazakhstan stood out as particularly risky, and advised Russians not to enter the country even in transit.
