Zhanara Akhmetova is a Kazakhstani journalist, one of the leaders of the opposition movement “Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan” (DCK). For several years, Akhmetova and her minor son have been unsuccessfully seeking refugee status and, through this, political asylum in Ukraine.
In case of the extradition of Akhmetova, Ukraine would violate several ratified international conventions. For the new government, this case would become one of the first serious exams in the observation of the rights of refugees and extradition procedures. Will the new authorities of Ukraine pass the test in the cooperation with dictatorial regimes?
In the present document, the Open Dialogue Foundation, the Italian Federation for Human Rights, the Arrested Lawyers Initiative, the Human Rights Defenders e.V. and the Kharkiv Institute for Social Research attempt to fill the gaps in the PACE report and propose recommendations with respect to impro
On 15 March 2019, it became known that the State Migration Service of Ukraine had refused to grant refugee status to an opposition blogger from Kazakhstan, Ardak Ashim. On the same day, it became known that the Ukrainian Migration Service had again refused to grant asylum to Kazakhstani opposition j
In international law, there is an unconditional ban on the extradition of persons to countries where they may find themselves at risk of torture and ill-treatment. Extradition requests issued on the basis of politically motivated prosecutions are also illegal.
On 12 July 2018, eight MEPs signed an open letter addressed to President Nazarbayev decrying the human rights situation in Kazakhstan. MEPs J. Stetina, P. Austrevicius, T. Kelam, W. Klinz, A. Gomes, H. Hautala, V. Mazuronis and J. Nart denounced the reduction of the space for civil liberties.
On 25 June, 2018, the Kyrgyz court authorised the extradition of the well-known opposition blogger Muratbek Tungishbayev to Kazakhstan. On 26 June, 2018, late in the evening, security officers took Tungishbayev from the detention centre in an unknown direction.
When arriving in Ukraine, political refugees do not leave their problems behind; on the contrary, they face new ones.
On 22 November 2017, at 2:00 p.m., the Kyiv Appellate Court will consider Zhanara Akhmetova’s appeal against her extradition arrest. Kazakhstani opposition journalist Zhanara Akhmetova was arrested in Kyiv at the request of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstani opposition journalist Zhanara Akhmetova was detained in Kiev on 21 October 2017 with gross violations of the Ukrainian legislation. On 24 October 2017, the court ruled on her temporary arrest for 18 days. In protest against the decision, Akhmetova went on a hunger strike.
