Russian human rights defender comes to Georgia after gov’t launches case against him
Ivan Pavlov has been defending the members of the Anti-Corruption Foundation in Russia. Photo: RFE/RL.
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Russian human rights lawyer Ivan Pavlov has entered Georgia after the Russian government has launched a case against him for the disclosure of information in one of his clients’ cases, Radio Liberty Georgian service reports.
Pavlov posted on his Telegram page earlier today that he left Russia due to bans that were imposed on him in connection with the criminal case which ‘made it impossible for him to work.’
I was banned from using communication tools and the Internet, from communicating with my clients and some of my colleagues,” Pavlov stated.
The Telegram post also reads that the only thing he was not forbidden from doing was the ability to leave the country, noting that ‘it was a sign indicating an exit.’
So far I am in Georgia, a country I am connected to a lot. My mother was born here, my grandfather is buried here, I lived here for three years as a child [and] went to school [here],” noted Pavlov.
Russian authorities started an investigation against Pavlov regarding the alleged disclosure of classified information in his client’s, journalist Ivan Safronov’s case who was arrested back in 2020 for ‘high treason.’
Pavlov has been defending the members of the Anti-Corruption Foundation in Russia.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated earlier today that Russian agencies are distributing disinformation in claiming that Georgia is taking in Afghan refugees, amid the country’s involvement in the evacuation process from Afghanistan.
Russia says it is ready to restore relations with Georgia ‘to the extent Georgia is ready for this,’ expressing hope that ‘common sense will prevail in Tbilisi’ and it will start developing relations with its currently Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions ‘as independent states.’
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has met with Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili in Brussels earlier today where he said that the recent judgement of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the Russia-Georgia 2008 war case ‘confirms that Russia is responsible for human rights violations in Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia (Tskhinvali) regions, and that Russia actually exercises control there’.
The European Union says it will continue to raise Russia’s consistent breaches of international law in Ukraine, Georgia, and elsewhere prominently, including through initiatives with like-minded partners.