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Saakashvili’s lawyer files abduction lawsuit

Meanwhile, Poland’s border service announced that Saakashvili had arrived in the country

KIEV, February 12. /TASS/. Ruslan Chernorutsky, the lawyer of the Rukh Novykh Sil (or the Movement of New Forces) leader Mikhail Saakashvili, has filed an abduction lawsuit referring to the politician’s Monday detention in downtown Kiev, the movement’s press service said in a statement.

Read also

President Poroshenko says Saakashvili cannot engage in politics in Ukraine

"Mikhail Saakashvili’s lawyer Ruslan Cherorutsky has just filed an abduction lawsuit," the statement reads. "The lawsuit was filed with the Pechersky District Department of Internal Affairs via a telephone call. Local restaurant staff and those who were accompanying Mikhail provided clarifications," the press service added.

The politician’s spokesperson Tatyana Bagranovskya told TASS earlier that some people dressed in camouflage uniforms had detained Saakashvili in Kiev. A source in Kiev’s Borispol airport later said that Saakashvili had departed to an unknown destination on a private plane.

Meanwhile, Poland’s border service announced that Saakashvili had arrived in the country. The politician himself also confirmed that fact.

Spokesman for Ukraine’s State Border Service Oleg Slobodyan, in turn, said that there were no legal reasons for Saakashvili’s return to the country.

Saakashvili’s citizenship issue

Saakashvili, who earlier served as Georgia’s president, was granted Ukrainian citizenship in May 2015 and appointed to the position of Odessa region governor. On July 26, 2017, Poroshenko stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship, while Saakashvili had stepped down as governor several days before that.

In September 2017, Saakashvili, backed by a group of supporters, managed to enter Ukraine but was charged with illegal border crossing. Right after that he applied to the Ukrainian State Migration Service for an asylum but was denied. Saakashvili filed an appeal against the Migration Service’s decision, which was rejected by Kiev’s District Administrative Court on January 3.

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Ukraine crisis Mikhail Saakashvili

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