Ukrainian opposition figure and Georgian former President Mikheil Saakashvili speaks during a court hearing in Kiev, Ukraine December 11, 2017. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
December 11, 2017
KIEV (Reuters) – A Ukrainian judge on Monday turned down the prosecutors’ request to place Ukrainian opposition figure Mikheil Saakashvili under house arrest, paving the way for his release from detention.
“The prosecutors’ petition … is dismissed,” Judge Larysa Tsokol told the court.
Prosecutors accuse the 49-year-old of assisting a criminal organization, charges he says were trumped up to undermine his campaign to unseat Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Alison Williams)
