MOSCOW, April 29 (RAPSI) – Georgian prosecutor's office filed a request with the Azeri authorities for the arrest and extradition of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, NewsGeorgia agency reported on Wednesday, citing Natia Sukhiashvili, deputy head of the Main Prosecutor’s Office Public and Media Relations Department.

Saakashvili, who is an aide to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan on April 28 for the Third Global Open Society Forum.
Azerbaijan has not yet responded to Georgia’s request.

Earlier, the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office sent the Ukrainian Prosecutor General several requests for the arrest and extradition of Saakashvili.  Ukraine refused to extradite former President of Georgia because charges against him are politically motivated, the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's office said.

In 2014, the Main Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia brought several charges against Saakashvili in absentia. The charges include spending $5 million in public funding for personal needs, abuse of power during the dispersal of a November 7, 2007 demonstration, the beating of ex-deputy Valery Gelashvili, and the murder of Sandro Girgvliani, an employee of the United Bank of Georgia, in 2006.

Saakashvili left Georgia when the country’s new president, Georgy Margvelashvili, assumed office in November 2013. He has refused to answer questions from or otherwise cooperate with Georgian law-enforcement agencies. He has been placed on the national wanted list.