Vilnius extradited Beslan Estemirov, a native of Chechnya, to Moscow. He lived in Lithuania for more than 20 years. He was given asylum there - and was twice tried for drugs

Lithuania deported to Russia a native of Chechnya who had lived in the country for more than 20 years, human rights activist Roza Dunaeva said . The Insider, citing a source in the Lithuanian authorities, claims that Beslan Estemirov was sent to Russia.

According to Dunaeva, we are talking about a man who fled to Lithuania from the war in Chechnya, in a European country he started a family and raised children - citizens of Lithuania. The human rights activist claims that the Chechen “was subject to legal protection measures related to the proceedings in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).”

In a comment to The Insider, the human rights activist stated that Estemirov’s lawyer and family were not notified of his deportation to Russia. Dunaeva said the Lithuanian authorities cited a threat to national security as the basis for the deportation. What it was is unclear.

Russia demanded that Estemirov be extradited in the case of participation in an illegal armed group. Russian investigators believed that since 2001 he had been a member of an armed group and was involved in two bombings of riot police officers. He has been charged with terrorism, according to the Rosfinmonitoring register.

In Lithuania, Estemirov was detained twice on drug charges. In 2014, he received four years in prison and was released on parole. In 2018, Estemirov received nine years in prison. According to Delfi, in 2020, Lithuania decided to transfer it to Russia before the end of this period.

In 2024, Delfi reported that Estemirov remains in a Lithuanian prison and must serve his sentence for another year. At the same time, according to the publication, the ECHR had to make a decision on whether to deport Estemirov to Russia, where he faces at least torture. At the same time, Dunaeva claims that the European Court made a decision banning Estemirov’s extradition to Russia back in 2021.

What has happened to Estemirov since 2024 is unclear. In April, the publication “Caucasus. Realii reported that the Chechen was detained when he came to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to renew his residence permit. Then Dunaeva stated that she did not know the reasons for the detention.