Tbilisi – The Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office has officially rejected Tbilisi's request seeking the extradition of former Georgian Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili, for whom Interpol earlier issued a red notice, Georgian Deputy Prosecutor General Irakly Shotadze said on Feb. 19.
“Regrettably, we have no mechanism other than an appeal for the Ukrainian side to abide by the signed international obligations concerning the extradition of persons wanted by other countries,” Shotadze said.
So far, there has been no official reply from Kyiv to the latest request for the extradition of ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, he said.
Adeishvili was put on the most wanted list by Georgia for abuse of power, the falsification of evidence in a criminal inquiry and the inhuman treatment of prison inmates.
However, former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili once described Adeishvili as the most talented member of Saakashvili’s government.
Saakashvili, who was the president of Georgia in 2004-2007 and 2008-2013, was declared wanted by the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office in a number of criminal cases. The Prosecutor’s Office told reporters recently that it had asked Interpol to issue a red notice for the ex-president.
Georgian media reported, citing Saakashvili’s lawyer Otar Kakhidze, that NATO Parliamentary Assembly President and U.S. Congressman Michael Turner had called on Interpol to reject Georgian prosecutors’ request. According to Kakhidze, Elmar Brok, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, forwarded a similar letter to Interpol.
The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office has called on Ukraine for cooperation and demanded that it extradite all wanted Georgian citizens, including Saakashvili, who was recently appointed as the Ukrainian president’s advisor.
