Georgia "concerned" over visit to Germany by wanted former attorney general

JAMnews

Tbilisi

Zurab Adeishvili is a former attorney general and former minister of justice of Georgia, who is wanted in his homeland. He made an official visit to Germany. In response, the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveyed its “concern” to the ambassadors of Germany and the European Union.

According to the Ministry, “the ambassadors were officially informed about the Georgian side’s concern regarding the participation of Zurab Adeishvili, a person recognized as a criminal and wanted by the Georgian court, in visits and meetings that took place in the EU and Germany.”

In response, the German Embassy clarified that Adeishvili attended the Bundestag as part of the delegation from the Ukrainian ambassador. They emphasized that his presence was unrelated to and did not affect the diplomatic relations between Germany and Georgia.

In early January 2013, Georgian investigative authorities sent the necessary documentation to Interpol’s General Secretariat to declare Zurab Adeishvili internationally wanted. However, in 2015, he was removed from Interpol’s red notice list (a database of individuals wanted in different countries). Currently, Zurab Adeishvili serves as an advisor to the attorney general of Ukraine.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry’s statement:

“As explained to the ambassadors, Zurab Adeishvili is known for his guilt in high-profile cases, and it is a sad fact that a person whose criminal actions were directed against the principles of a democratic, fair state participates in official formats in the EU. This naturally causes justifiable concern in Georgian society and does not contribute to the effectiveness of efforts aimed against anti-Western sentiments.

During the meeting, there was a shared hope that the European Union and its member states would react appropriately to similar situations in the future. The ambassadors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed their commitment to work closely together on both ongoing bilateral issues and on advancing Georgia’s further integration into the European Union”.

The government of Georgia: “We express concern about the attitude of the Ukrainian authorities”

The government of Georgia also expresses “deep alarm and concern” regarding “the attitude of the Ukrainian government towards the Ukraine’s friend, the country of Georgia, and the Georgian people”:

“It is regrettable and deeply troubling that a number of decisions made by the Ukrainian authorities are in direct contradiction with the traditional friendship between the two countries and peoples:

On March 1, 2022, the Ukrainian authorities, under an unclear pretext of not imposing sanctions and not sending volunteer fighters to Ukraine, recalled the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Georgia;
On July 3, 2023, the Ukrainian authorities expelled the Georgian ambassador to Ukraine under the false pretext of Mikhail Saakashvili being in a pre-death state. It should be noted that the Georgian ambassador was one of the rare foreign diplomats who stayed in Kyiv since the beginning of the war and did not leave Ukraine for a single day;
The Ukrainian authorities have made a number of statements about Mikhail Saakashvili, allegedly indicating a political motive for his imprisonment, including the statement that “Russia was killing Mikhail Saakashvili through the hands of Georgian authorities”;
In Ukraine, high-ranking positions continue to be held by individuals who are wanted or convicted of various crimes. From this perspective, particular concern is raised by the appointment of Zurab Adeishvili as an advisor to the attorney general of Ukraine, as well as the tenure of Georgy Lortkipanidze as the deputy head of Ukraine’s Counterintelligence Service. It should be remembered that these individuals led the authoritarian regime of the previous Georgian government, the victims of which were the lives, health, and well-being of many people. Despite the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office’s repeated requests to the Ukrainian side to extradite these individuals, Ukrainian authorities have not shown due respect to the Georgian state and have not extradited the criminals of Georgia.

The government of Georgia does not understand why the Ukrainian government makes decisions that aim to artificially distance the two friendly countries and peoples from each other.”