Georgia announces ban on entry into country for Yuri Luzhkov

Yuri Luzhkov, the former Moscow Mayor, will be included in the "black list" and will not be able to enter Georgia anymore. This has been announced by Shalva Khutsishvili, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 7, it became known that Yuri Luzhkov came to Georgia. Georgian public activists expressed their indignation about the fact that Yuri Luzhkov was not brought to responsibility in accordance with the Law "On the Occupied Territories" in force in the country for visiting Abkhazia and South Ossetia. On May 10, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) stated that the Criminal Code does not allow prosecuting Yuri Luzhkov in connection with the expiry of the period of limitations of the violation of the Law "On the Occupied Territories".

The Georgian Law "On the Occupied Territories" provides for the special legal regime within the territory of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. According to the Law, foreign citizens who have visited Abkhazia and South Ossetia without the permission of Tbilisi officials are not allowed to enter the territory of Georgia for any purpose of stay. Being the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov visited Abkhazia and South Ossetia and provided active assistance to those regions.

Today, Shalva Khutsishvili, Georgian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, has announced that Yuri Luzhkov will no longer be able to visit Georgia, since he will be put on the list of persons who are prohibited from entering the country.

"His visit that happened at this stage became possible because of the fact that at certain period of time, he [Yuri Luzhkov] was not included in the [black] list. We will put him on the list and he will not be able to enter Georgia anymore," said Shalva Khutsishvili as quoted by the "Georgia Online".

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