Georgia Not to Send Ukraine New Request to Extradite Saakashvili

The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia (POG) is not going to send a new request to Ukraine asking the extradition of a former Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, who was lately twice detained and released in Kyiv with the charges of the alleged coup attempt and links with criminal organizations.

The information was released by the First Deputy Prosecutor of Georgia Mamuka Vasadze, who underlined that the previous request Georgia sent to Ukraine over the issue, is in force, and there is no need to send a new one.

“At present, we observe no special circumstance to address Ukraine again regarding Mikheil Saakashvili. As we expect, all those people we have put on the wanted list according to Georgia’s legislation will be extradited to Georgia,” Vasadze stated.

Last time the POG of Georgia sent another copy of the request to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine in September.

The request of the Georgian side reads that the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is in charge of the extradition applications for cases pending court decisions, such as those involving Saakashvili. 

The POG listed the charges brought against by Saakashvili in Georgia: 

1. Abuse of official powers by a public political official. 

2. Dispersing the 2007 anti-government protests as well as for the raid on Imedi TV station. 

3. Organizing an attack against then-opposition MP Valeri Gelashvili, who was severely beaten by masked, armed men in Tbilisi in 2005. 

4. For embezzlement of state budget funds in large quantities committed with prior agreement by a group using official positions. 

It was the third request sent from Georgia to Ukraine. 

Saakashvili’s Georgian lawyer, Beka Basilaia has many times stressed that Saakashvili is the victim of an agreement made by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Georgia’s former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, tycoon Bidzina Ivanisvili. 

Saakashvili was the third president of Georgia from 2004-2007, and again in 2008-2013.

By Thea Morrison

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