Ukrainian judge Vitaliy Pisanets, who gave the green light for the extradition of former Georgian military official under the United National Movement (UNM) Megis Kardava last week, was found dead in his house, outside Kyiv, on Saturday.
The next trial in Kardava's extradition case was scheduled for later today.
Kardava, who is charged with abuse of authority, torture, sexual abuse and illegal imprisonment, stated last week that his extradition from Ukraine is related to the October 2 municipal elections.
The ruling Georgian Dream party aims to boost its rating through my extradition,” Kardava said.
The Ukrainian police are investigating the death as a case of premeditated murder.
Pisanets was also overseeing the case of the 2016 murder in Kyiv of journalist Pavel Sheremet, who was killed by an explosive device fixed to the bottom of his car.
Ukrainian media outlets report that Pisanets hosted guests shortly before his death.
The extradition of the former head of the Georgian military police Kardava from Ukraine was delayed back in 2018 as the latter asked Ukraine for political asylum.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office stated then that Ukrainian law prohibited extradition from its territory before the completion of asylum-related procedures.
Kardava was wanted by Interpol. He has been wanted by Georgian law enforcers since 2013 for 11 criminal cases.
He was detained in Ukraine in November 2017, when he tried to illegally enter the country from Romania.