"I won't allow myself to be tortured anymore": Chechen activist Mansur Movlaev attempted suicide in a Kazakh pretrial detention center.
Movlaev, who is in pretrial detention Almaty and awaiting extradition to Russia, received prompt medical attention. His life is currently out of danger.
"Forgive me, I'm tired of the injustice! Neither the court nor the prosecutor's office listens to us! They [Kadyrov's men] will torture me, torment me, and kill me, and then they'll say I did it myself," Movlaev wrote in his suicide note. "I won't allow myself to be tortured anymore! For 16 months, I lived in fear of being extradited, and in hope...Now there's only fear!"
Movlaev asked to be buried in Kazakhstan so that Kadyrov's men wouldn't even get his body, and also to help the Russian activist Julia Emelyanova, who is in the same pre-trial detention facility and who is also threatened with extradition to Russia.
"Save at least Julia," the activist asked.
Mansur MovlaevIn 2022, he was detained by security forces in Chechnya and held in an illegal prison. After escaping from there, in January 2023, he was able to reach Kyrgyzstan, where he was detained in connection with a case opened in Russia for “financing extremist activity.” The court in Bishkek Sentenced Movlaev to six months in prison and subsequent deportation. He left the country voluntarily to avoid being sent back to his home country.
In May 2025, Movlaev was detained in Kazakhstan and placed under extradition arrest. This year, the country's Prosecutor General's Office ordered his extradition to Russian security forces.
In Russia, Movlaev faces political persecution. Human rights activists previously claimed he informed opposition figures about corruption and kidnappings in Chechnya. The UN Human Rights Committee ordered Kazakhstan not to extradite Movlaev to Russia, citing the risk of torture and extrajudicial execution.
The day before, Kazakhstan denied Movlaev refugee status.
