Ukrainian opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili Tuesday urged European leaders to slap sanctions on President Petro Poroshenko, whom he accused of violating his human rights by expelling him from the country three months ago, Yahoo News reported.
Saakashvili, 50, was thrown out of Ukraine in mid-February when masked men abducted him from a downtown Kiev restaurant and swiftly deported him to Poland. He is currently living in the Netherlands with his Dutch wife and two sons.
Now his lawyers say Kiev trampled on the rights of the maverick politician, but any lawsuit -- for instance at the Luxembourg-based European Court for Human Rights -- could take years to pursue.
Instead, Saakashvili called upon European leaders to slap sanctions on Poroshenko and his political allies to force the Ukranian president to allow him back into the country.
Ukraine is due to hold parliamentary and presidential polls next year which Saakashvili has vowed to contest.
