Georgia’s former justice minister removed from INTERPOL list
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, April 16
Interpol, the world’s largest international police organization, has annulled its red notice application issued against Georgia’s former Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili.
Adeishvili, who is being charged with several crimes by Georgian officials is no longer on Interpol’s 123 person list.
The minority United National Movement (UNM) members claimed that the act was a signal that Georgia’s former officials are being politically persecuted, while the majority requested a response from the Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office released a statement confirming that Adeishvili has indeed been removed from the Interpol list.
The Prosecutor’s Office stressed that on January 10, 2013 they filed a request before the General Secretariat of Interpol announcing an international search for Adeishvili.
In response, Interpol requested additional information on several occasions regarding criminal cases proceedings against Adeishvili from the office of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia.
The Georgian side provided all the necessary documentation to the General Secretariat of Interpol in due time. Based on the materials provided by the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia, the General Secretariat of Interpol believed that an international search via Red Notice Application against Adeishvili was in full compliance with the Constitution of Interpol and correspondingly, on November 14, 2013, an international search for Adeishvili was announced,” said the Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
The Prosecutor’s Office states that on April 9, 2015, they received a letter from the General Secretariat of Interpol informing the Georgian side that the General Secretariat of Interpol has annulled the red notice Application issued against Adeishvili.
“General Secretariat of Interpol referred to the fact of granting the refugee status to Adeishvili by one of the states, which is unknown to the Georgian side, as to the main ground for annulling the international search of Adeishvili,” the Prosecutor’s Office informs, noting that the General Secretariat of Interpol has made the decision without requesting additional argumentation or submission of the relevant documentation from the Georgian side and the latter became aware of the mentioned fact only after the Red Notice Application against the fugitive was annulled.
“Correspondingly, in the process of considering the matter, we lacked the capacity to present additional argumentation in continuing the search for Adeishvili to the General Secretariat of Interpol,” the Chief Prosecutor’s Office states.
