Not only do we have fears that Ablyazov would not get a fair trial in Russia or Ukraine, there is the real danger that he will eventually end up in Kazakhstan, where he will be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

Kazakhstan’s record of torture and ill-treatment has been well documented. Aleksandr Pavlov is at real risk of such abuse if he is sent back there. Spain has an absolute obligation under international law to stop this from happening.

Kazakhstan persecutes opponents of the regime by exploiting the legal mechanisms used by international criminal police.

The French authorities should protect Ablyazov from being forced back to Kazakhstan or to any other country where he faces a real risk of forced return to Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is known for imprisoning critics after unfair trials and for ill-treatment of people in detention.

The French authorities must carefully consider all the angles to Ablyazov’s case and make absolutely sure that he is not sent to any country where he will be at risk of harm or of subsequently being loaded on to a plane to Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, an energy-rich country with a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, is seeking a more influential global role but this has combined recently with a sharp decline in respect for freedom of assembly, speech and association. A major opposition figure still in the country has been imprisoned, and some independent media outlets have been shut down. There are allegations of prison torture, and concerns over whether government critics can get fair trials.Meanwhile Kazakh authorities appear relentless in their pursuit of Ablyazov, who was granted asylum in the UK in 2011 on the grounds that he was deemed at risk of persecution if he were returned to Kazakhstan.

An Italian government inquiry revealed extensive involvement by Kazakh authorities in the operation that saw Ablyazov’s wife Alma Shalabayeva and their six-year old daughter whisked on a private jet to Kazakhstan from Rome on May 31 under an Italian expulsion order. Italian authorities this month admitted there were serious irregularities in the deportation procedure and withdrew the expulsion order.

Shalabayeva is now in the hands ofthe Kazakhstani government, notorious for trumped up charges against political opponents and anyone associated with them. It also has a long record of torture, ill-treatment, and flagrantly unfair trials. Any Italian official or politician involved in sending Shalabayeva and her daughter on to the risk of such rights violations must be called to task.

The names of the unjustly deported were Alma Shalabayeva, and her daughter Aula; and the country they have dangerously been sent back to is Kazakhstan. Although recently elected a member of this UN Human Rights Council, it too appears in need of human rights advice.