TBILISI. Dec 4 (Interfax-AVN) - A Georgian court will consider the extradition of three Chechens, Husein Ildkhanov, Ruslan Belugayev, and Rustam Elikhadzhiyev, to Russia on Thursday, Georgian Prosecutor General Nugzar Gabrichidze told Interfax.
These people were among 13 armed Chechens whom Georgian border guards detained on the Chechen sector of the Georgian- Russian border on August 3 and 4. According to Russian law enforcement agencies, they are members of illegal armed formations acting in Chechnya. Georgia extradited five of them to Russia on October 4.
Gabrichidze said his decision to authorize the extradition of the three Chechens does not run counter to Georgian law and international legal standards and meets bilateral agreements between Georgia and Russia.
A decision concerning the extradition of another three Chechens, who remain in custody, has not yet been made, as Georgian authorities have not yet received all essential identification materials from Moscow, the prosecutor general said.
The remaining two detainees proved to be Georgian citizens and are not subject to extradition.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in early October recommended that Tbilisi refrain from extraditing the detained Chechens to Russia, but later withdrew this recommendation.