Refugee status for Ketebayev
Muratbek Ketebayev, Kazakh opposition activist, close associate of Mukhtar Ablyazov and Vladimir Kozlov, was granted refugee status in Poland. The decision was issued by the Office for Foreigners on 9 December, after consideration of the application submitted by Ketebayev in August.
On 12 June, 2013, Polish police, acting on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by Interpol, arrested Ketebayev in Lublin. An international arrest warrant had been issued in his regard on the request of Kazakhstan, filed on the basis of a ruling, sanctioning his arrest, issued by the court in Aktau in December 2012. A day later, Muratbek Ketebayev was interrogated in the prosecutor's office and released. Investigators did not request his arrest, arguing that the charges, presented to him by Kazakhstan, may have been of a political nature.
The refugee status, granted to Ketebayev in early December, includes guarantees that he will not be rendered to law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan. He is also entitled to the so-called ‘integration assistance’, including, among others, cash benefits, payment of health insurance premiums, provision of information and support with liaising with other institutions. Additionally, data regarding the refugee cannot be made available to the authorities and public institutions of his country of origin.
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