Russia deported Ashyrbay Bekiev to Turkmenistan, who requested asylum in the Russian Federation. This was reported by the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.
According to human rights activists, Bekiev informed his friend about the deportation. His lawyer contacted the Main Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, where this information was confirmed to him. On the evening of August 30, he sent a short video to his son from the plane, after which the connection with him was lost.
Ashyrbay Bekiev left Turkmenistan in 2009, since then he and his family (wife and five children) have been permanently living in St. Petersburg. In their homeland, Ashyrbay and his brother Tachmyrat are accused of “inciting national and religious hatred.” Human rights activists believe that the case against the Bekiev brothers was fabricated.
In 2016, Ashyrbay was detained in St. Petersburg following an extradition request from Ashgabat, after which the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office decided to extradite him. However, in May 2017, Bekiyev was released after the European Court of Human Rights ruled on the application of urgent measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, which prohibited the extradition of the Turkmenistan.
Ashyrbai Bekiev was unable to leave Russia due to the expiration of his Turkmen passport. This became the basis for accusing him of violating immigration laws. In March 2023, the police decided to ban him from entering Russia for 5 years, and in May a court in St. Petersburg decided to deport Bekiev to his homeland for violating migration laws, after which he was placed for four months in the Temporary Detention Center for Foreign Citizens No. 1 in Krasnoe Selo.
Ashyrbay Bekiev submitted an application for asylum in Russia. The Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg, in an official response dated June 23, 2023, said that his application could be considered only after the completion of the “identification” procedure. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that this response “should be considered invalid.” However, the fact that the asylum seeker was expelled before the completion of the procedure for considering his application for asylum is a serious violation of international and national law, the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights said in a statement.
Ashyrbay’s brother, Tachmyrat Bekiev, was detained in March 2023 in the Volkhov district of the Leningrad region. The extradition case against him was also terminated, but a decision was made to deport him for violating immigration laws. Now he is in a deportation center, writes “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”.
