Amnesty International, Canada, August 15, 2017
Ali Feruz, whose real name is Khudoberdi Nurmatov, is a gay human rights activist and a journalist for the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
In 2008, he fled Uzbekistan after having been arrested and tortured by security forces. Russian authorities repeatedly refused Ali refugee status or temporary asylum, and detained him on 1 August 2017. According to Ali, he was beaten and ill-treated the same day during transfer from the court to detention center.
The Moscow Basmanniy Court ruled that Ali Feruz must be forcibly returned from Russia to Uzbekistan. It was clear that if he was returned, he would be at risk of torture and imprisonment for his sexual orientation. Shortly after, a Russian appeal court suspended his deportation on 8 August, pending review of his case by the European Court of Human Rights.
Ali continues to be held in detention and remains at risk.
Call on the Russian authorities to immediately release Ali Feruz and protect him from forcible return to Uzbekistan where he is at risk of prosecution, torture and other ill-treatment, and imprisonment - including for his sexual orientation.
