It will not be a big surprise if the leader of the Ukraine's opposition political party "Rukh Novikh Sil" Mikhail Saakashvili will be out of East and heading to West.
Despite Summons, Saakashvili Refuses To Be Questioned
Mikheil Saakashvili, the leader of Ukraine's Movement of New Forces party and former president of Georgia, has reportedly refused to appear for questioning at the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), despite being summoned for an appearance there on December 26.
Saakashvili's lawyer, Pavlo Bohomazov, initially said Saakashvili was planning to appear for questioning.
But shortly after the scheduled meeting at 11 a.m. local time, another Saakashvili lawyer, Ruslan Chornolutsky, told journalists that the former governor of Ukraine's Odesa region would "not enter the investigator's office for investigative procedures today."
Chornolutsky said Saakashvili received a summons to be questioned and to submit samples of his voice for analysis on December 26.
He said that those were two different investigative procedures, which cannot be conducted simultaneously.
"We have already asked for these two investigative procedures to be separated," Chornolutsky said. "We have submitted such a motion."
On the eve of the scheduled meeting, Saakashvili expressed concerns that Ukrainian authorities were trying to deny him temporary protection status and "create conditions" for his "expulsion from the country."
That hearing was scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. local time.
Saakashvili said on December 25 that he would attend the court hearing and "invite everyone who is not indifferent to justice in Ukraine."
He maintains that he is legally a permanent Ukrainian resident and that Ukrainian authorities have "no legitimate instruments to extradite" him to Georgia -- where he is wanted on charges of abusing the office of the presidency.
Ukrainian authorities have accused the former Georgian president and ex-Odesa governor of abetting an alleged "criminal group" led by former President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after his ouster in February 2014.
They have also suggested that protests led by Saakashvili are part of a Russian plot against Ukraine.
Saakashvili denies all the charges.
On December 18, Saakashvili appeared at the Prosecutor-General's Office in Kyiv but refused to answer questions from investigators there.
He told reporters on December 18 that he would give testimony only when the case is handed over to the Ukrainian Security Service, "as required by law," the Interfax news agency reported.
Saakashvili was president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013.
He lost his Georgian citizenship in 2015 when he accepted Ukrainian citizenship in order to take the post of Odesa governor at the request of President Petro Poroshenko.
But Saakashvili resigned the Odesa post in November 2016, complaining of rampant corruption, and has since become an ardent opponent of Poroshenko.
Source - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
photo from strana.ua
The photo above was taken at Borispol Airport on Dec 23 on Saturday. Former Georgia President was spotted at the Airport accompanied by his family:
According to unian.info article:
Leader of the Movement of New Forces Party in Ukraine and ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili was seen at Boryspi Airport at about 8 o'clock on Saturday morning, according to the news portal Strana.ua.
He was accompanied by his wife, two sons and a dog, said Strana.ua, which received pictures from witnesses. Saakashvili was most likely seeing his family off, it said. Saakashvili, in turn, told Strana.ua that he was sitting at a café in the center of Kyiv as of 14:00 local time on Sunday, December 24. He also shared his selfie where he was sitting with his hair wet, as it had been raining in Kyiv. Earlier, media outlets reported that Saakashvili had secured a Dutch visa. Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra said his country would welcome the ex-president of Georgia if he chose to leave Ukraine, seeking asylum.
In addition to the recent development of Saakashvili case, Netherlands confirmed that the ex-President has the legitimate rights to apply for the Dutch citizenship.
interfax.com.ua article below:
Former Georgian president and leader of the Movement of New Forces party Mikhail Saakashvili has the right to obtain a Dutch citizenship and residence permit, since he is married to a Dutch citizen, Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Halbe Zijlstra said on Friday.
"He is married to a Dutch citizen, and according to the Dutch legislation he can apply for and get a [Dutch] passport," the Dutch television and radio company NOS quoted the minister as saying.
Saakashvili is married to 48-year-old Sandra Roelofs, who is a native of Terneuzen, the Netherlands. The couple has two sons.
Saakashvili earlier said several European countries offered him to acquire their citizenship, but he intended to defend his right to hold a Ukrainian passport.
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