On the morning of September 27, the Russian media spread the news that the Kazakh authorities had promised to extradite Russians evading mobilization to Moscow. For example, such information was published by RBC with reference to Interfax-Kazakhstan:
Kazakhstan promised to extradite those wanted to Russia for evasion.
Kazakhstan will be forced to extradite to Russia those of its citizens who are wanted for evasion of mobilization, Interior Minister Marat Akhmetzhanov said.
Similar news was published in Moskovsky Komsomolets, Lente.ru, Kommersant, NTV, Vedomosti and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
In fact, if you read the news in the Kazakh media, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, Marat Akhmetzhanov, said the exact opposite: the country's law enforcement agencies will not extradite Russian draft dodgers.
“If this is a criminal offense, today both Russia and our side are extraditing within the framework of the Minsk Convention and within the framework of providing legal assistance, ratified by our Parliaments,” the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
But he clarified that we are talking only about criminals guilty of criminal offenses put on the international wanted list.
“If they look for military registration and enlistment offices, this is not a legal basis for their extradition,” Akhmetzhanov added.
Most of the Russian media have corrected their news by adding an international wanted clause. However, even headlines like “ Kazakhstan will hand over wanted people for evading partial mobilization of Russians ” are misleading. As early as September 23, the Ministry of Defense explained to Baza journalists that failure to appear at the military registration and enlistment office on the agenda is not a criminal, but an administrative responsibility. To receive a criminal punishment, one must appear at the military registration and enlistment office and officially enter military service, and then escape from there. Obviously, the vast majority of Russians currently traveling abroad are those who did not appear on the agenda, or did not have time to receive it at all.
However, even if you do not pay attention to the assurances of the Ministry of Defense (the current laws do not clearly state in which cases administrative and in which criminal liability occurs), it should be remembered that before being put on the international wanted list in Russia, at least a trial of a dodger who must choose a measure of restraint for him – detention. Then, within the framework of the Minsk Convention, law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan should receive a request to extradite a specific offender – with a description of the actual circumstances of the act and the text of the law, his personal data, data on the amount of damage caused by the crime, and a copy of the detention order. Considering how many Russians came to Kazakhstan after Vladimir Putin announced the mobilization (the country’s Interior Ministry claims about 98,000), it is unlikely that Russian courts and law enforcement officers will take on so much paperwork, nor that the Kazakh police will be looking for so many people at the same time.