On the night of February 10, the Russian Anti-Battle Committee acknowledged that Kazakhstan was set to extradite Yulia Yemelyanova, a former volunteer for Alexei Navalny, to Russia. Whereas the activist was knowledgeable of the choice in late January by the Prosecutor Normal’s Workplace, her lawyer was solely notified after visiting her on the detention heart.
If the extradition occurs, it will make Yemelyanova the third particular person this yr to be handed over from Kazakhstan to Russia as a crackdown on individuals opposing the battle in Ukraine continues.
This isn’t the primary time Kazakhstan has returned Russian residents to their homeland, as beforehand reported by The Diplomat. These new deportations, nevertheless, mark the primary time that substantial efforts seem to have been directed at people whom Russia seeks to prosecute within the mild of the continued battle in Ukraine.Â
With much more deportations presumably on the best way, a brand new diplomatic pattern appears to be rising in Kazakhstan.
Yulia Yemelyanova was detained in Almaty on August 31 final yr whereas in transit throughout a visit from Georgia to Vietnam. Her detention adopted Russia’s determination to put her on a global needed record.
The case that prompted the request was an investigation into the alleged theft of a taxi driver’s cellphone in Russia, valued at $197. Whereas the supposed incident befell in 2001, the case was solely filed after Yemelyanova had left Russia in July 2022, and her allies imagine it to be fabricated.Â
Following her detention in Kazakhstan, a political asylum software was submitted on her behalf, and on September 11 she was granted asylum-seeker standing. In keeping with the Russian Anti-Battle Committee, this asylum request was nonetheless into consideration when the choice to extradite her was made, regardless of assurances from the Prosecutor Normal’s Workplace that such a step wouldn’t be taken whereas her software was pending.
Yemelyanova is the newest in a sequence of Russian residents who, regardless of looking for to keep away from persecution, both face extradition or have already been handed over to Russia by Kazakhstan up to now month.
Kazakhstan demonstrated its readiness to hold out such orders by deporting Crimean-born Oleksandr Kachkurkin, who was pressured to just accept Russian citizenship following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, in late January. Kachkurkin was faraway from Kazakhstan for administrative offenses, together with jaywalking and smoking hookah indoors. Upon arrival in Russia, he was instantly detained and charged with treason over alleged monetary transfers to Ukraine.
On the finish of January, the extradition of Chechen activist Mansur Movlayev was authorised by the Prosecutor Normal’s Workplace on the premise of a Russian needed discover. As in Yemelyanova’s case, the choice was made whereas his asylum software was nonetheless below evaluate, rendering the choice illegitimate, in line with his lawyer.
A number of different instances have concerned former Russian army personnel who refused to battle in Ukraine. One in every of them, Semyon Bazhukov, was handed over to Russia on February 1. This befell regardless of a 2022 assertion by then-Inside Minister Marat Akhmetzhanov that Kazakhstan wouldn’t extradite Russians fleeing army mobilization.
These instances have intensified fears amongst Russian military deserters in Kazakhstan. One such case is that of former soldier Yevgeny Korobov, whose asylum software was rejected final yr. On the identical time, Chechen deserter Zelimkhan Murtazov has remained caught within the transit zone of Astana’s airport after being denied entry into Kazakhstan. Citing nationwide safety issues, Kazakh authorities refused him entry, thereby stopping him from making use of for asylum.
Not for the reason that deportation of former FSB officer Mikhail Zhilin, who abandoned in September 2022, has Kazakhstan sought to return Russian residents in instances immediately linked to the battle. However in mild of the latest instances, nevertheless, it now seems more and more clear that the failure to acquire asylum is more likely to end in expulsion from Kazakhstan.
Whereas Yemelyanova’s lawyer is making ready to enchantment the choice earlier than Kazakhstan’s Supreme Courtroom, a good consequence seems unlikely. The query now could be whether or not Kazakhstan will proceed to deal with such instances in the identical approach by detaining people persecuted by Moscow and sending them again to Russia.
