Suleimenov, Zhasulan
Who, Why and How exiled: In early 2009, Suleimenov travelled to Russia to receive medical treatment, as he is a paraplegic. Along with his five acquaintances, Suleimenov was detained in Russia in January 2009, reportedly at the request of the Kazakhstani NSS (Amnesty International, 2013).
Stage 1 details (accusations/ charges/ Interpol notice/ extradition requests): Zhasulan Suleimenov, and his younger cousin Kuat Zhobolaev both alleged in court that they had been tortured by NSS officers in order to force them to confess to having set up a terrorist cell and to having called for terrorist acts to be committed in Kazakhstan. The court did not call for an investigation of the allegations or declare the confessions as inadmissible evidence (Amnesty International, 2013).
Stage 2 details (arrest/ detention/ extradition): After being arrested in Russia in January, the six men were extradited to Kazakhstan in February 2009. Zhasulan Suleimenov was kept in incommunicado detention for three days before being transferred to the NSS pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) in Astana. The others were released without charge. In November 2009, the two cousins were sentenced to eight years in prison (Amnesty International, 2013)
Stage 3 details (attack/ abduction/ rendition/ torture/ assassination/ death): He was extradited to Kazakhstan in February 2009 (Amnesty International, 2013). While in the SIZO he was reportedly beaten on his legs and other parts of his body, handcuffed and suffocated, denied food and water and basic hygienic care. There are multiple reports of the further mistreatment Suleimenov has received whilst serving his prison sentence. Zhasulan is disabled and wheelchair-bound. Kuat is losing his eyesight which relatives fear is due to beatings received to his face in prison. During their four years in prison, both men were subject to ‘unhuman’ torture (Amnesty International, 2013).
Other actions during Stages 1–3 (dispossession/ overseas assets frozen/ intimidation/ action against associates/ …): Kuat Zhobolaev- Suleimenov's cousin was also charged and sentenced. Whilst in detention in Kazakhstan, NSS officers reportedly threatened to harm his mother and his younger cousin (Amnesty International, 2013).
Current status: After serving eight year sentence in prison in Kazakhstan he has been released in February, 2017 (Радио Азаттык, 2017). In 2017, he won the case against Kazakhstan in the UN Human Rights Committee. The UN admitted that he was tortured, inhumanly treated in the colony (Радио Азаттык, 2017).
Press sources: Amnesty International, 2013. "Eurasia: Return to torture: Extradition, forcible returns and removals to Central Asia", 3rd July 2013 [Online]. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/EUR04/001/2013/en/ Amnesty International, 2012. KAZAKSTAN: DEMAND MEDICAL CARE FOR DISABLED PRISONER: ZHASULAN SULEIMENOV.21 December, 2012. [Online]. Available at Радио Азаттык, 2017. "В ООН признали пытки в отношении заключенного с инвалидностью", 13 April, 2017. [Online]. Available at:https://rus.azattyq.org/a/kazakhstan-bivshiy-zakluchenniy-vyigral-sud-protiv-kazakhstana-v-oon/28423952.html
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/24000/eur570062012en.pdf