Kazakh opposition figure released from detention in Spain
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 16 January 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Kazakh opposition figure released from detention in Spain, 16 January 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/54e1a3b66.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
January 16, 2015
By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
A Kazakh opposition figure who faces possible extradition from Spain has been released from detention.
Muratbek Ketebaev was arrested at a Madrid hotel on December 27 on an Interpol warrant issued at the request of the Kazakh government.
Ketebayev's wife, Irina Petrusheva, told RFE/RL that he was released on January 15 and was not required to pay bail.
But he still awaits an extradition hearing and cannot leave the county.
Ketebaev, a co-founder of the opposition party Algha (Forward), fled Kazakhstan in 2011 amid rising pressure on government critics. He was granted refugee status in Poland in 2013.
Kazakhstan has charged him in absentia with ties to violence in the town of Zhanaozen in 2011 and an alleged plan for a terror attack in Almaty the following year. Ketebaev denies the charges.
Ketebaev is a former associate of Mukhtar Ablyazov, a billionaire Kazakh opposition supporter who is currently appealing a French ruling on his extradition to Russia to face embezzlement charges.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
