Rakhimov, Nabi

Gender: .
State of concern: .

Who, Why and How exiled:

Moved from Uzbekistan to Russia in 1999. Travelled back to Uzbekistan in November 2009 (ECHR, 2014).

Category of exile: . (Definitions here.)
Alleged affiliation: Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Which stages experienced: Stage 1   Stage 2   not Stage 3. (Definitions here.)
Date of most serious incident: 2013.
Violence experienced: .

Stage 1 details (accusations/ charges/ Interpol notice/ extradition requests):

Charged in March/April 2010 with membership of religious extremist organisation, Hizb ut-Tahrir between 1990 and 1998. Charged with attempting to overthrow the Uzbek State’s constitutional order; storage and disseminating of documents containing ideas of religious extremism, separatism and fundamentalism; threats to national security and public order; and participation in and direction of religious, extremist, separatist and other prohibited organisations. Furthermore, since 1990, Rakhimov was said to have participated in religious studies and physical training sessions of a “shahid belt community”. His arrest was ordered and his name was put on a cross-border list of wanted persons (ECHR, 2014).

Stage 2 details (arrest/ detention/ extradition):

Arrested in Moscow in April 2013 by Russian authorities. Detained pending extradition after Uzbek authorities filed a request. Claimed to be unaware of any reasons for his criminal proceedings in Uzbekistan. Released from detention in July 2013 after the Prosecutor General's Office refused to order his extradition due to the time that had passed since the alleged crimes. However, he was re-arrested the same day for violation of immigration laws. The ECHR ruled in July 2014 that his extradition would violate Article 3 of the Convention (freedom from torture and ill-treatment (ECHR, 2014).

International arrest warrant: .

Countries of transit, asylum and/or residence: .

Legal status (refugee/ asylum seeker/ resident):

Did not apply for refugee status or temporary residence when he arrived in Russia in 1999. Applied for refugee status in May 2013 but was repeatedly refused. The courts cited evidence that he had voluntarily travelled to Uzbekistan in 2009 as proof that he did not need protection (ECHR, 2014).

Current status:

He is being held in Moscow in a detention center for foreign citizens after the ECHR ruled that his extradition would violate the Convention (ECHR, 2014).


Legal sources:

European Court of Human Rights, 2014.  Case of Rakhimov. Russia. Judgment, July 10, 2014. [Online]. Available at: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-145366.