Chechen activist Mansur Movlayev attempts suicide in Kazakhstan jail. He faces extradition to Russia.

Source: Novaya Gazeta Europe

Chechen activist Mansur Movlayev attempted to take his own life after a year and a half in a pretrial detention center in Almaty, his lawyer, Vadim Drozdov, told the independent Russian news outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe.

The outlet published a note attributed to Movlayev that reads:

Forgive me, I’m tired of injustice! Neither the court nor the prosecutor’s office hears us! They will torment me, torture me, and kill me, and then say I did it myself… I won’t let them torture me anymore! For 16 months I lived in fear of being extradited, and in hope… Now there is only fear!

In the note, Movlayev also asked for help for Russian activist Yulia Yemelyanova, who is held in the same pretrial detention center and faces extradition to Russia.

It remains unclear what condition Movlayev is in or where he is currently being held. The Russian Anti-War Committee cited information from lawyers saying he received help and that his life is not in danger.

Movlayev became known for passing information about abductions, enforced disappearances, torture, and fabricated criminal cases in Chechnya to opposition Chechen Telegram channels in 2019 and 2020. He fled Russia in 2023 and was detained in Almaty in May 2025.

Kazakhstan has denied Movlayev asylum and is weighing his extradition to Russia. The UN Human Rights Committee has ordered Kazakh authorities not to extradite him until his complaint has been considered on the merits. Human rights activists fear he would face torture and death in Chechnya.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.

To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.

Why is it
important
to support
Meduza
now?Read here

Chechen activist Mansur Movlayev attempts suicide in Kazakhstan jail. He faces extradition to Russia.

Yulia Yemelyanova

{{ header_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }}

{{ title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }}

{{ second_title }}

Chechen activist Mansur Movlayev attempts suicide in Kazakhstan jail. He faces extradition to Russia.

Yulia Yemelyanova

{{{ alt }}}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }}

{{ title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }} {{ second_title }}

{{ title }}

{{ second_title }}