Defense lawyers for Movement of New Forces Party chief and ex-Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili have filed a complaint with the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) about alleged illegal actions taken against their client by Ukrainian authorities.
Saakashvili’s lawyer Ruslan Chornolutsky said Ukrainian authorities treated Saakashvili harshly when he was detained and deported from Ukraine.
“In addition, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, using his official position, attempted to paint a negative picture of Saakashvili, who was not allowed to defend himself in Ukrainian courts,” he said.
As earlier reported, Saakashvili was detained in Kyiv on Feb.12 and deported to Poland.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said in December 2017 that Saakashvili had received $500,000 to finance his activities from businessman Serhiy Kurchenko, who is hiding in Russia. To uphold his claim, Lutsenko published an audio recording. Saakashvili said he was not acquainted with Kurchenko.
In late January 2018, Lutsenko confirmed reports that an analysis had confirmed the identities of the speakers in the recorded telephone conversations between Saakashvili and Kurchenko.
Saakashvili is suspected of conspiracy to commit a crime, the commission of a crime by a group of people acting in collusion or by a criminal organization, and complicity with members of criminal organizations and concealment of their criminal activities.
