Tbilisi court upholds refusal of political asylum for Tumsu Abdurakhmanov

The Tbilisi court has upheld the decision pronounced by the Georgian Ministry for Refugees and Resettlement to refuse the status of a political refugee for Tumsu Abdurakhmanov, a native of Grozny, put in Russia on the federal wanted list.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 31, 2016, the Georgian Ministry for Refugees refused to grant political asylum to Tumsu Abdurakhmanov. The man himself challenged the decision. He mentions his conflict with a top-ranking official, a relative of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, as the reason for his criminal prosecution.

The Tbilisi City Court has found to be convincing the argument of the Georgian Ministry for Refugees and Resettlement that the granting of political asylum to Tumsu Abdurakhmanov "by virtue of significant circumstances contradicts the interests of the country," the "Kavkaz.Realii" reports.

"When we ask to clarify what special 'interests' are meant, we get answers from the special services that the case is classified with the 'secrecy' label," stated advocate Gela Nikolaishvili.

Gela Nikolaishvili has expressed his confidence that "the true political reason for refusing to grant political asylum to Tumsu Abdurakhmanov is the Tbilisi's unwillingness to annoy Grozny and Moscow," the "Radio Liberty" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.