By RIA Novosti,
Tbilisi : A lawyer for a Georgian opposition leader has asked France to give political asylum to her 15-year-old son, who she says is being persecuted at home.
Eka Beselia, whose clients include Georgia’s former Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili, said the authorities had opened a criminal probe on hooliganism charges against her son, who was involved in a teenage brawl four months ago.
France gave political asylum to Okruashvili in April,
Beselia said authorities have threatened to arrest her son. “They have been trying to pressurize me, but they will fail,” she said. “I will not yield an inch.”
Supporters of Okruashvili, who was convicted in absentia of extortion and sentenced to 11 years in prison, say he was punished for criticizing President Mikheil Saakashvili following his dismissal in 2006.
Okruashvili was arrested in Georgia after accusing Saakashvili, his former ally, of plotting to seize Georgia’s breakaway republic, ordering the assassination of a Georgian billionaire, and corruption. He backtracked on the allegations and was released on bail. He fled to Germany, but Georgia demanded his return.
Okruashvili was arrested in Germany last November and later extradited to France, where he had received his Schengen zone visa. In France, he claimed he would be killed if extradited to Georgia.
France is still to make a decision on Tbilisi’s request for Okruashvili’s extradition.