Kiev court denies refuge to Saakashvili

A court in Kiev has upheld the decision of the State Migration Service (SMS) that the former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili should not have the refugee status in Ukraine.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 24, 2017, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine stated that the SMS had denied the refugee status for Saakashvili; and on December 26, the District Administrative Court of Ukraine dismissed the petition lodged by Saakashvili's advocates, who asked to ban his extradition before the consideration of the petition by the SMS.

On January 3, the Kiev District Administrative Court ruled to completely reject Mikhail Saakashvili's claim. The latter was not present at the court session, the "Interfax" reports.

The defence intends to appeal against the ruling, and has 30 days for that, said Ruslan Chernolutsky, one of Saakashvili's advocates.

He has noted that the today's ruling is no ground for Ukrainian authorities to extradite his client. Now, Saakashvili is in the status of a person who challenges the SMS' actions; and this status allows him to stay in the territory of Ukraine, the "Ukrinform" quotes Mr Chernolutsky as saying.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.