Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4
Trend:
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has signed a decree canceling ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili's citizenship, Tass reported citing the presidential press office Dec. 4.
Saakashvili started to serve as Georgia's president in 2004. He left the country in November 2013, several days before the termination of his duties and Margvelashvili's inauguration as the new president. After leaving Georgia, he has resided in the US and in Ukraine.
In May this year, Saakashvili was granted the Ukrainian citizenship, and on May 30 he was appointed the governor of that country's Odessa province.
Earlier, on Dec. 3, Georgia's justice ministry recommended President Margvelashvili to deprive Saakashvili of citizenship, according to Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani.
"We gave Mikheil Saakashvili nearly a month, as stipulated by laws, to voice his own stance on the termination of his citizenship," said the minister.
Tsulukiani noted that a letter of the justice ministry was handed over to Saakashvili in Odessa, Ukraine, Nov. 3, but he didn't respond.
She added that afterwards the justice ministry sent its conclusion to President Margvelashvili.
Edited by SI