Russian anarchist placed on wanted list in home country, detained in Kazakhstan

Denis Kozak, an anarchist from Rostov-on-Don who is wanted in Russia for commenting about an explosion at an FSB building online, has been detained in Kazakhstan, as per his Telegram channel.

A friend of Kozak’s who was with him during the detention has told Novaya Gazeta Europe that two men visited them at the apartment they were in and introduced themselves as detectives.

“They introduced themselves and showed their IDs. Then they asked us to show ours and asked us when we had arrived in Kazakhstan. They checked Denis’s IMEI on his phone and told him he was wanted in Russia’s Rostov region and internationally for “publicly justifying terrorism,” Kozak’s friend said, adding that the young man was then taken to a police station in Almaty.

Denis Dzhivaga, the deputy head of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights, told Novaya-Europe that Kozak had indeed been detained and is currently at a police station. A lawyer will be helping Kozak apply for asylum, Dzhivaga added.

Russia’s database of wanted individuals indeed says Kozak is wanted but specifies no reasons.

OVD-Info reported in June that criminal proceedings had been initiated against Denis Kozak, 19, accusing him of justifying terrorism online. The reason was a comment on social media to a post about Mikhail Zhlobitsky who detonated a bomb, killing himself at an FSB building in Arkhangelsk in 2018. OVD-info noted that the comment analysed the incident as Kozak communicated with Zhlobitsky online previously, but contained no explicit approval of the terror attack.

Kozak had his home searched on 4 April and had his cellphone, his laptop and several books confiscated.