TBILISI. Oct 24 (Interfax) - Georgian Justice Ministry officials handed over to Russian law enforcement agencies Russian citizen Yaroslav Sumbayev, who is suspected of involvement in the killing of investigator Yevgenia Shishkina in the Moscow region, at the border checkpoint Kazbegi-Lars on Thursday, the Georgian media reported.
Georgian Justice Minister Thea Tsulukiani told reporters earlier on Thursday there were no obstacles to the extradition of Russian citizen Sumbayev, which had been confirmed by a statement issued by the European Court of Human Rights, which had studied the case.
"The lawyers for Sumbayev deceived not only journalists, but also Georgian society, saying that the process of extradition needed to be suspended pending the decision of the European Court of Human Rights. I have a letter from the Strasbourg court, which was provided to the lawyer back in September, and it says there were no obstacles to handing the detainee over to Russia," Tsulukiani said.
At the same time, lawyer Vano Norakidze said he has no information on the location of his client Sumbayev and said he does not rule out his handover to Russia, which he called illegal.
The lawyer also said that Sumbayev had accused some high-ranking Georgian law enforcement officials of abducting him and demanding a large ransom for his release while in prison in Tbilisi.
"The Georgian prosecutors have still not begun an investigation into this statement," the lawyer said, adding that Sumbayev had lived legally in Georgia, expecting asylum, until his detention in November 2018.
The hearing of the case, which was scheduled to be held in the Tbilisi City Court on Thursday, did not take place. Judge Lasha Chkhikvadze said the court would issue an official statement on the accuracy of the information on the defendant's extradition to Russia within ten days.
Sumbayev was detained in Tbilisi in November 2018 and charged with producing and using a forged document. In Russia, he is wanted on suspicion of involvement in the killing of investigator Shishkina, who was murdered in the Moscow region on October 10, 2018.