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Ex-president of Georgia Saakashvili detained in Kiev

Mikhail Saakashvili has been detained in a restarurant

Mikhail Saakashvili EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

Mikhail Saakashvili

© EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

KIEV, February 12. /TASS/. Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, the leader of Ukraine’s Rukh Novykh Sil (or the Movement of New Forces), has been detained in Kiev, his spokesperson Tatyana Bagranovskaya told TASS.

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Russian diplomat calls situation around Saakashvili 'disgrace' for Ukrainian people

"Mikhail Saakashvili was seized in the Suluguni restarurant located near our party’s office," she said, adding that "he was forced into a white van and taken to an unknown destination."

According to the spokesperson, people who detained Saakashvili were dressed in camouflage uniforms but did not identify themselves.

A source in the Rukh Novykh Sil told TASS that Saakashvili’s lawyers were figuring out the circumstances of his detention.

Earlier on Monday, Saakashvili was expected to visit the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office for a questioning. His defense attorney Ruslan Chernolutsky told TASS that the politician did not intend to visit the Prosecutor General’s office as he considered the extradition check to be illegal. He added that Saakashvili could not be forcefully extradited before the court trials were completed.

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Ukraine crisis Mikhail Saakashvili

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