Elvira Habibulina is a member of the Kyrgyz Bar Association and Director of the Center for the Legal Assistance for Prisoners, a non-governmental organization devoted to active protection of prisoners rights, assistance in penal reform and reduction of incarceration, in accordance with international standards and principals. Activities of the organization include monitoring prisoners’ rights in the prisons, provision of legal and social aid to prisoners, former prisoners and their relatives, and liberalization of criminal legislation: with special emphasis on application of alternative measures of punishment. As a PILnet International Fellow, Elvira worked on a project to develop free legal and social services for protecting prisoners’ rights and to introduce alternative sentencing provisions to the Kyrgyz criminal legislation. Upon returning to Kyrgyzstan, Elvira continued her work protecting prisoners’ rights both within her NGO and as a practicing lawyer.