BISHKEK -- A court in Bishkek has ruled that Russian citizen Mansur Movlayev, an outspoken critic of the authoritarian ruler of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who was sentenced in Kyrgyzstan earlier in October to six months in prison for illegal border-crossing, must be released but that his deportation order to Russia remains in force.
Movlayev's lawyer, Bakyt Avtandil, told RFE/RL on November 20 that his client left the Birinchi Mai district court's premises a free man and "nobody came up to him regarding his pending deportation." He added that the court said Movlayev had served his six-month sentence because time spent in pretrial detention counts double.
Movlayev, a native of Chechnya, is wanted in Russia on extremism charges that he rejects as politically motivated.
The Kyrgyz State Committee of National Security (UKMK) said in August that its officers had detained Movlayev in a counterterrorist operation, stressing that the 28-year-old Chechen activist is "a follower of radical Islam" with links to terrorist groups in the Middle East.
In 2020, Movlayev was sentenced to three years in prison on illegal drugs charges that he vehemently rejected as politically motivated, calling the case against him retaliation by Chechen officials for his criticism of Kadyrov and his government.
In 2022, Movlayev was granted an early release, but then detained again.
Noted Chechen opposition bloggers Ibragim and Baisangur Yangulbayev said at the time that Movlayev managed to escape and fled Russia for Kyrgyzstan in 2022, where he planned to get assistance from international rights groups to travel to the European Union for safety reasons.
Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya since 2007 with a cult of personality around him, is frequently accused by Russian and international human rights groups of overseeing grave abuses, including abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and targeting the LGBT community.
Kremlin critics say Russian President Vladimir Putin has turned a blind eye to the abuses because he relies on the former rebel commander to control separatist sentiment and violence in Chechnya.