Navalny Volunteer Arrested at Kazakhstan Airport

On August 31, Yulia Yemelyanova, an activist and volunteer for the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny, was arrested at the Almaty airport in Kazakhstan. Yemelyanova is a Russian citizen and faces potential extradition to her home country due to a case her lawyers say is fabricated and politically motivated.

Yemelyanova was flying from Tbilisi, Georgia, to Da Nang, Vietnam, with a layover in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Although her two flights were with the same airline, once the activist arrived in the airport's border zone, she was informed that she needed to re-register, check in again, and collect her luggage. It was then that police detained her. She was sent to a pre-trial detention center in Almaty for a period of 40 days and faces extradition to Russia. 

The Kazakhstan International Bureau of Human Rights and the Anti-War Committee of Russia joined her case. Her lawyers filed a petition for Kazakhstan to grant their client refugee status, so as to avoid extradition to Russia. The Anti-War Committee warned that if a person is on a wanted list in Russia for political reasons, they should avoid travel and layovers in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The organization said, "Take care of yourself. Not all such situations can be helped. Sometimes it's too late."

Anti-War Committee human rights activist Margarita Kuchuscheva said Yemelyanova was added to Russia's wanted list due to a September 2021 theft case. According to Kuschusheva, the case is  political persecution: "The girl was detained a month after the 'theft' was committed. The mobile phone she allegedly stole was shown to her only at the police station." Security forces initially claimed that the device was confiscated from her.

According to Kuchusheva, Yemelyanova had been attending Navalny rallies since 2017 and later volunteered at the opposition leader's headquarters in St. Petersburg. Yemelyanova was never arrested at protests, but faced threats. Unknown persons defaced the door of her home, and Yemelyanova left Russia in 2022, before her trial for "theft" started. She moved to Tbilisi, where she has assisted human rights organizations, including Emigration for Action, and Just Help.

Yemelyanova is not the first Russian to be detained in Kazakhstan on fabricated charges : Russian anarchist Denis Kozak was detained in Astana at the request of the Russian government. Kozak was granted refugee status but remained in a Kazakh prison for a year. In March 2024, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees assisted with his release and flew him to Germany.

Kazakhstan International Bureau of Human Rights activist Gulmira Kuatbekova said Yemelyanova's petition for asylum will likely be rejected. Kazakhstan is obligated to detain anyone who is wanted, even if they are in transit. However, Kuatbekova said that Yemelyanova cannot be extradited to Russia because Almaty has ratified international treaties that prevent a person from being deported to a country where they are in danger. These conventions allow exiles to travel to a safe country. The defense will also focus on proving the impossibility of extraditing Yemelyanova to Russia.

Kuchusheva said, "Yulia is in shock now (...) But, she is receiving all possible assistance, and we hope that everything will be fine."