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Ex-Georgian leader to appeal against Ukrainian Security Service

Ukrainian prosecutors demanded the court to place the politician under house arrest and put an electronic bracelet on him

© EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

KIEV, December 26. /TASS/. Movement of New Forces party leader Mikhail Saakashvili intends to pursue the Ukrainian Security Service (USS) in court and file an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for an "illegal abduction by intelligence officers," he told reporters on Tuesday near the USS building where he was summoned for questioning.

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Ex-Georgian leader Saakashvili says he does not need European visa

"We are preparing an appeal against the USS for banditry, attack and abduction… They abducted me! And now this has been officially confirmed by court," Saakashvili said. "We are also preparing an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, and I will demand compensation for the abduction."

Saakashvili was arrested and placed in a solitary confinement cell on December 8. He is charged with receiving about $ 500,000 from Russia to finance rallies to overthrow the Ukrainian power. Prosecutors demanded the court to place the politician under house arrest and put an electronic bracelet on him. On December 11, Kiev’s Pechersky Court rejected the prosecutors’ appeal and released Saakashvili in the courtroom. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Office appealed against this decision. A session of the Kiev Court of Appeals was to be held on December 22, but it was rescheduled for January 3, because the Pechersky district court had failed to submit the case materials.

On December 5, officers of the Ukrainian Security Service and the Prosecutor General Office arrested Saakashvili, but about 200 his supporters blocked the USS car carrying the politician and forced him out. After the release Saakashvili organized a rally in front of Verkhovna Rada and demanded the resignation of Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko and the national police and USS chiefs, as well as a study by the parliament of the law on impeachment of the Ukrainian president. After that, Saakashvili’s supporters set up a tent camp in front of the Ukrainian parliament.

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Ukraine crisis Mikhail Saakashvili

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