ChechnyaDefence of Chechen native Mansur Movlaev appeals to Kazakhstan’s Supreme Courtby Elizaveta Chukharova• 2 min readShare▲Mansur Movlaev. Photo: Orda.kz.Mansur Movlaev’s legal team has filed a complaint with Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court after the cassation court upheld the refusal to grant the Chechen man asylum, Movlaev’s support group told OC Media on Thursday. According to Free Mansur Movlaev, the legal team has also sent a letter to Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office regarding compliance with the interim measures issued by the UN Human Rights Committee — which would prohibit Kazakhstan from extraditing Movlaev to Russia until his international complaint has been considered. The Prosecutor’s Office has not yet responded, the activists said. As one of Movlaev’s lawyers, Elena Zhigalenok, explained in a comment to independent media outlet Caucasian Knot, ‘We have filed a complaint with the Supreme Court, despite the fact that it very rarely considers cases that have already been reviewed by other courts.’ She said the complaint refers to the danger to Movlaev’s life, as well as a significant risk to Kazakhstan’s international reputation, since the UN Human Rights Committee has taken up Movlaev’s case. ‘We have also notified the Prosecutor General’s Office about the complaint to the Supreme Court’, the lawyer added. Zhigalenok met with Movlaev on Tuesday. According to her, he was in a depressed state. ‘But he has a fighter’s character — he will keep fighting’, the lawyer said. On 10 September, Kazakhstan’s cassation court for administrative cases upheld the lower court’s decisions refusing to grant Movlaev refugee status. According to another member of his legal team, Vadim Drozdov, the court agreed with the conclusion that Movlaev had failed to demonstrate an individual risk of persecution if returned to Russia. Movlaev has been in custody in Kazakhstan since May 2025. In January 2026, Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office approved the Russian extradition request for the activist. In February, Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court suspended the extradition pending a final decision on his asylum application. The UN Human Rights Committee also called on Kazakhstan in February to refrain from extraditing Movlaev until his complaint has been considered on its merits. In September, Movlaev attempted suicide, but medical staff managed to save him. He made a second attempt while in hospital. Afterwards, a prosecutor visited him and said that extradition from Kazakhstan was inevitable and that Movlaev ‘could become a martyr’, according to a support group for the Chechen man. Russian authorities are ostensibly seeking Movlaev’s extradition because he is accused in a criminal case related to financing extremist activities. Movlaev’s supporters consider the case politically motivated. According to Movlaev, while studying at university, he helped the Chechen opposition movements by providing information about people allegedly abducted by Kadyrov’s forces. In 2022, Movlaev was detained by security forces in Chechnya and held in an illegal prison. After escaping, he managed to reach Kyrgyzstan in January 2023 and later, after facing the threat of deportation, crossed the border into Kazakhstan. Movlaev has previously said that he fears torture and violence if he is returned to Chechnya. Liza was born and raised in Vladikavkaz and now lives in Prague. She has previously worked for RFE/RL, ASTRA, Belsat, and others. She is currently completing her PhD in German and Slavic Studies at Charles University in Prague, specialising in the study of military and inter-ethnic conflicts in the North Caucasus. In her free time, Liza shoots feature films, writes about cinema, and travels — she has visited exactly 50 countries and is not going to stop there.