Russian citizen Mansur Movlayev, an outspoken critic of Ramzan Kadyrov -- the authoritarian ruler of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya -- has left Kyrgyzstan before a court order to deport him to Russia was implemented.
Movlayev’s lawyer, Bakyt Avtandil, told RFE/RL on November 27 that his client is now in an unspecified country, adding that Movlayev made the decision to leave the Central Asian nation by himself.
Last week, a court in Bishkek ruled that Movlayev, who was sentenced in Kyrgyzstan earlier in October to six months in prison for illegal border-crossing, must be released from detention though his deportation order to Russia remained in effect.
Avtandil told RFE/RL at the time that the Birinchi Mai district court ruled that Movlayev had served his six-month sentence because time spent in pretrial detention counts for 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 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 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 the persecution of 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.