By Country / Russia
Russian Court Halts Extradition Of Uzbek Asylum Seeker
October 09, 2006
October 9, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- A Russian rights group says a court in the Urals region has ruled against sending Uzbek asylum seeker Bairamali Yusupov back to his home country.
The Civic Assistance (Grazhdanskoye Sodeistvie) nongovernmental organization reported on its website that the Tyumen regional court on October 6 overruled the extradition order issued by the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office.
The group says Yusupov was released in the courtroom after spending more than 13 months in Russian custody.
Yusupov was arrested in August 2005 on an arrest warrant issued by Tashkent. He is wanted in Uzbekistan on religious-extremism charges that he denies.
Civic Assistance says Russian migration authorities on October 4 denied Yusupov refugee status. The group says he intends to appeal the decision.
In related news, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports another Russian court a fews days ago released a second Uzbek detainee. The court in central Lipetsk Region cleared Rustam Muminov of all charges and ordered that he be freed.
The decision was reached in late September, but reported only today.
Muminov, whom Uzbek authorities accuse of ties with last year's antigovernment uprising in Andijon, was arrested in February 2006. He was also awaiting extradition while being detained in Russia.