Georgia Will Not Extradite Saakashvili to Ukraine

Georgia does not wish to extradite former president Mikheil Saakashvili to Ukraine. The country's Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture, Sports, and Youth Tea Tsulukiani stated today that the politician will serve his prison sentence in Georgia.

“If we are talking about handing over Saakashvili to Ukraine to avoid the imprisonment imposed by a Georgian court, then we have no desire to do that. There is no legal appropriateness for it,” said Tsulukiani, adding that the former president will be held in a Georgian prison.

Tsulukiani, who served as Georgia's Minister of Justice from 2012 to 2020, also commented on the possible extradition of Saakashvili to Ukraine, noting that there is no legal basis for this either. “Extradition from Georgia to Ukraine occurs only if the person whose extradition is requested must stand before a court there. I do not think, in any case—I have no information that Saakashvili is being prosecuted in Ukraine. Therefore, discussions about extradition are legal absurdities, in other words, nonsense,” she added.

The former president was arrested in Georgia on October 1. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday that Kyiv would make every effort to bring him back.