16:09 26.01.2018

Appeals court places Saakashvili under house arrest at nighttime

2 min read
Appeals court places Saakashvili under house arrest at nighttime

Kyiv's Appeals Court has partially granted a Prosecutor General's Office request by ordering that former Georgian President and leader of the Movement of New Forces Mikheil Saakashvili be placed under house arrest at between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

A panel of judges delivered the ruling on Friday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported from the courthouse.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko deprived Saakashvili of Ukrainian citizenship in the summer of 2017, when the latter was abroad. However, Saakashvili managed to return to Ukraine. The Movement of New Forces has organized and held a number of protests.

Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko claimed that Saakashvili had received $500,000 to finance his activities from businessman Serhiy Kurchenko, who is in hiding in Russia. To uphold his claim, Lutsenko published an audio recording. Saakashvili said he was not acquainted with Kurchenko. Saakashvili's associate David Sakvarelidze said the recordings had been fabricated and promised to have them analyzed by foreign experts.

Saakashvili was detained in Kyiv on December 5, 2017, but his supporters blocked the car carrying him and freed him. He was later declared wanted.

Saakashvili was detained once again on the evening of December 8. He was kept in a Ukrainian Security Service detention facility in Kyiv, where he declared a hunger strike.

Kyiv's Pechersky District Court ruled on December 11 not to grant prosecutors' motion to put Saakashvili under round-the-clock house arrest pending an investigation. Saakashvili was freed at the courtroom.

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