The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has prepared a written declaration on Kazakhstani dissident Mukhtar Ablyazov, which has so far been signed by eight members of the organisation, including the chairman of the Bundestag’s human rights committee Frank Schwabe, Pieter Omtzigt, Mailis Reps and Kimmo Sasi.
In the written declaration, the signatories stressed that the Ukrainian request for Ablyazov’s extradition is a legacy of the Yanukovych government and that the new authorities should dissociate themselves from the demands being made for the extradition of the dissident. At the same time, the statement appealed to the authorities in France, Spain and the Czech Republic not to allow the extradition of Ablyazov’s associates to Russia, Ukraine or Kazakhstan.
