Ukraine's Supreme Court Recognizes Saakashvili's Expulsion From Ukraine In 2018 As Legal

Ukraine's Supreme Court Recognizes Saakashvili's Expulsion From Ukraine in 2018 as Legal

The Supreme Court of Ukraine found the nation's decision to return former Georgian president and ex-governor of Odessa Mikheil Saakashvili to Poland, from where he illegally crossed the border in 2017, legal, the court's press service said Wednesday

KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2019) The Supreme Court of Ukraine found the nation's decision to return former Georgian president and ex-governor of Odessa Mikheil Saakashvili to Poland, from where he illegally crossed the border in 2017, legal, the court's press service said Wednesday.

Last year, the Kiev Regional Administrative Court dismissed Saakashvili's lawsuit demanding that the State Migration Service's decision to expel him be declared unlawful. The former president promised to file an application with the prosecutor general of Ukraine about his "abduction" and illegal expulsion from the country, which he alleges happened on personal orders from then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

"The Supreme Court recognized the actions of authorities on the readmission of Saakashvili to Poland as legal," the press service said in a statement.

In particular, the court refused to satisfy the former president's cassation appeal � part of his lawsuit against Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, State Migration Service and Interior Ministry � that contained demands that his readmission to Poland on February 12, 2018, be declared illegal and canceled. The Supreme Court added that its decision was final and would not be subject to appeal.

Saakashvili, in his turn, vowed to appeal the court's decision.

"Of course, I will appeal the court's decision in Strasbourg, where I definitely win. But this unlawful act conducted by the Supreme Court demonstrates strong influence [of former Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko in all government bodies of Ukraine," he wrote on Facebook.

Saakashvili served as Georgian president for two consecutive terms from 2004-2013. After the end of his mandate, several criminal cases were launched into the former head of state, including in relation to misappropriation of public funds and abuse of power. In some cases, Saakashvili has already been sentenced to jail time in absentia.

To escape prison time in Georgia, Saakashvili moved to the United States. In 2015, the troubled politician was appointed the governor of Ukraine's Odessa region at Poroshenko's initiative and deprived of his Georgian citizenship upon receiving a Ukrainian passport. However, Saakashvili resigned in 2016, blaming the Ukrainian leadership, namely Poroshenko, for nationwide corruption. The following year, while again residing in the US, he was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship for providing incorrect information on his citizenship application and was told that if he returned to Ukraine he would face extradition to Georgia. In August 2017, Saakashvili flew into Poland and then illegally crossed the border into Ukraine in September. In the following months, he was detained by the Security Service after which the court released him. On February 12, 2018, Saakashvili was deported to Poland and banned from entering Ukraine until 2021.