The request is set out in a letter dated September 29, in which the Committee asks Tbilisi to "refrain from extradition, deportation, expulsion or other return" of Timofeev while his individual communication is under consideration, according to the document cited by The Insider, BBC Russian and Paper Kartuli. The same day, the Committee forwarded the complaint to the Georgian side and requested its position both on the admissibility of the petition and on the merits of the case. A response is due no later than March 29, 2027, after which it will be passed to Timofeev's representatives for comment.
The complaint to the UN Committee was filed by Ivan Timofeev, the son of Furgal's former aide, Ekho reported.
Lawyer and human rights defender Roman Kislyak told The Insider that the instruction is binding on Georgia despite being worded as a request. He said its binding nature follows from the country's signing and ratification of the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides for the individual communications procedure. "It is formulated as a request, but one should not be deceived — this is diplomatic language, courtesy," Kislyak said.
According to him, Georgian authorities should now release Timofeev from custody, since he was arrested to secure an extradition that will be impossible for the coming years because the case has been registered with the Committee. Kislyak added that a decision at the domestic level could take days or weeks. The defense specifically asked that the ban cover not only extradition but also deportation, expulsion and other means of return to Russia — as an example, Kislyak cited the case of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadygov, for whom the European Court of Human Rights imposed interim measures against extradition from Georgia to Azerbaijan.
Kislyak noted that interim measures remain in force until the UN Committee adopts a final decision on the complaint, and that such cases can take from two to six years to consider. He described Georgia's record of complying with interim measures from UN treaty bodies as positive. According to him, those that systematically fail to comply are primarily the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation.
The application of interim measures does not mean the Committee has already found the complaint admissible or established a violation of Timofeev's rights.
Timofeev was detained in Georgia in January on the basis of an Interpol red notice issued in April 2024 at Russia's request. Interpol itself annulled the notice back in September of last year, Ekho notes.
Timofeev arrived in Georgia in March 2024 and applied for asylum, citing political persecution in Russia, but the Georgian authorities refused him. On September 4, Tbilisi City Court ruled to extradite Timofeev to Russia. His lawyer, Rusudan Mchedlishvili, told The Insider that the defense intends to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court of Georgia and to use international mechanisms.
Russian authorities accuse Timofeev of involvement in the murders of and attempts on the lives of businessmen in 2004–2005. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, he was part of an organized group created by Furgal and his business partner Nikolai Mistryukov to eliminate business competitors. According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, Timofeev is accused in Russia of complicity in the 2004 murder of businessman Yevgeny Zorya — the same crime for which Furgal himself was convicted. Timofeev has denied the charges and linked his prosecution to the political activities of Furgal's team.
Sergei Furgal was sentenced in 2023 to 22 years in a penal colony in a case concerning the organization of murders and attempted murder, and in December 2025 to 23 years in an economic case. Under the cumulative sentences, he is to serve 25 years in a penal colony. Furgal does not admit guilt, and the Support for Political Prisoners project of Memorial considers him a political prisoner.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, sent a letter to the Georgian authorities pointing out that the persecution of Timofeev is unacceptable, Novaya Gazeta Europe writes. She stressed that the Kremlin uses the practice of applying articles on "organized crime" to suppress the opposition.
According to Tbilisi Life, Timofeev has Category III disability — he has been diagnosed with heart failure and hepatitis C. His health deteriorated during a previous imprisonment in Russia, where he was subjected to torture.