Georgian Prosecutor's Office requests extradition of wanted former official from Netherlands

The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has asked Dutch authorities to arrest and extradite Zurab Adeishvili, the wanted former Prosecutor General and Justice Minister of Georgia under the previous United National Movement Government, Imedi TV said on Tuesday.

The Office said the appeal had been made following reports of Adeishvili’s visit to The Hague on Tuesday as part of an official delegation of Ukraine to attend an international conference entitled Restoring Justice for Ukraine.

The body said it was “implementing all measures to bring individuals who have committed crimes in Georgia to justice regardless of their location”.

Adeishvili was sentenced to a year and six months in prison in absentia for illegal closure of Iberia TV back in 2004.

He has also been sentenced in absentia for illegal raid on Imedi TV in 2007, illegal confiscation of Akura vinery and abuse of office in the Cartu Bank case, when the UNM government planned to deliberately bankrupt the bank founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, in 2012.

In January 2021, he was also sentenced to six years in prison in absentia for kidnapping and abuse of official authority in the case of former opposition leader Koba Davitashvili.