Ruža Tomašić addressed the European Commission with a written statement on the creation of a common European asylum system and called attention to the case of Kazakh activist Muratbek Ketebayev.
As noted by a Croatian MEP, support for human rights defenders is one of the priorities of the EU’s foreign policy in the field of human rights. However, it happens that the protection granted by one country is not recognised by another EU member state. This is the case of Muratbek Ketebayev. The activist was granted refugee status in Poland, but despite this, he was arrested in Spain on the basis of an Interpol “red notice” issued by Kazakhstan.
Tomašić asked the European Commission whether it intends to address the problem of protecting dissidents from third countries and what measures it plans to take in this regard. In addition, she asked whether officials were aware of the numerous cases of violations of Interpol mechanisms by authoritarian countries that issue politically motivated requests to persecute their opponents.
