23:00, 18 March 2009

Georgia gives refugee status to Sergeant Glukhov

Alexander Glukhov, Junior Sergeant of the Russian Army, who ran away from his unit deployed in South Ossetia, was awarded in Georgia a refugee status and all the privileges as stipulated by the Georgian legislation. This was stated by Shota Utiashvili, official spokesman of Georgia's MIA.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that, as Mr Utiashvili said yesterday, on March 17, Glukhov had petitioned for political asylum.

"Glukhov has a refugee status, a flat and a due allowance; he has a TV set and a computer at home," Shota Utiashvili said but refused to give Glukhov's address for "safety reasons".

"I assure you that nobody is guarding him, and he is free to move," the source has added.

According to his story, Glukhov did not apply to the authorities for Georgian citizenship, as the "Gazeta.ru" writes.