Extradition of Saakashvili still on Georgian Dream's agenda

Georgia continues to demand the extradition of Georgia's ex president Mikheil Saakashvili from Ukraine, despite the fact his Ukrainian citizenship was reinstated earlier this week, the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office says.

"Neither deprivation nor restoration of his [Ukrainian] citizenship will influence the ongoing legal process," prosecutor Koka  Katsitadze said. 

He vowed that Saakashvili "will have to answer" for the possible crimes he was charged with in Georgia, Agenda.ge reported.

On May 28, 2019,Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky restored Saakashvili’s Ukrainian citizenship of which he was stripped by his former ally, ex-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in 2017.

The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office has requested Ukraine on several occasions to extradite Saakashvili in previous years.

The office also requested Saakashvili’s extradition from Poland, to where he was deported from Ukraine in 2018.