Russian Law Enforcement Places Georgian Ex-Minister on International Wanted List
Russian state-controlled media TASS reported that the Russian law enforcement agencies have put former Georgian Defense Minister Davit Kezerashvili on an international wanted list. This was announced by a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to TASS.
Kezerashvili is charged with alleged large-scale fraud in Russia, where he faces two separate cases. One case is related to Georgia’s alleged “war crimes” against the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region in 2008. The other case involves charges of fraud on a particularly large scale under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Kezerashvili was reported to have been entered into the wanted database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and is now on an international wanted list. A preventive measure against him has also been chosen in the form of detention in absentia by a Moscow court.
This move comes amid ongoing tensions between Russia and Georgia. In 2016, Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee, reported that Kezerashvili was still a defendant in a case related to the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia.
Kezerashvili himself reacted to the decision by stating that the Russian government had been trying to discredit and neutralize him for 12 years. He added that this latest action coincides with an announcement by Georgian Dream to launch an investigation into the 2008 war.
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