General Giorgi Kalandadze (41) visited his 16-year-old daughter in December. The young woman goes to the “International School” in Kleinmachnow. The officer in the service of the Ukrainian army then wants to fly back to Kiev on December 19: Kalandadze is at BER at 12:50 p.m. at passport control. A federal police officer places the Ukrainian passport under the reading machine.
By Matthias Lukashewitsch, Jeanne Plaumann and Peter Tiede
In 2019 he was naturalized in Ukraine. Suddenly there is a tip: The passport holder is being sought on the basis of an arrest warrant. It comes from the public prosecutor’s office in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. To explain: Giorgi Kalandadze is Georgian (born June 24, 1980 in Tbilisi).
The man was a highly decorated military man there. Most recently General of the Fourth Brigade. Revered as a “folk hero”.
He led his men in 2009 fighting Russian forces in the contested territory of the breakaway Republic of Abkhazia (Russian-occupied). The young commander is confident. In 2012, however, he fell out of favor with the new Secretary of Defense.
Criminal investigations are being launched against him. Finally he leaves Georgia. He is hired in Ukraine in 2014. There he then led a Georgian task force to recapture the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which was occupied by Russian forces. As a military adviser, the United States in particular is counting on him.
He has now been in extradition custody in Germany for more than four weeks.
BZ learned: The Brandenburg Higher Regional Court confirmed at the beginning of January that the Federal Republic of Germany must extradite the Ukraine military to his old homeland of Georgia. The “extradition arrest warrant” (dated January 4, BZ available) has now been suspended under strict reporting requirements. Kalandadze had to surrender his passport.
The reason is an arrest warrant issued on December 13, 2015 by the criminal division of the court in Tbilisi (file number: 10a/5363). A case of assault against the Ukraine general is pending there. He is said to have abused a terror suspect with other interrogators in 2012. Kalandadze is defending himself against extradition. According to his own statements, he must fear for his life. Is that correct?
“Putin will come for you”
Yuri Tabach, ex-Chief of Staff of the NATO military liaison mission in Moscow and retired US Navy Captain, says of Kalandadze’s role: “If he is extradited to Georgia, they will torture and kill him. Putin will come for you if he feels you are going to do something against him. For him, Giorgi Kalandadze is a personal enemy.”
Girogi Kalandadze is currently living with a friend in Berlin. The location must remain secret. Guarded by private security forces. In an interview with BZ, he says: “I’m on a Russian wanted list because I was active as a general against Russian troops in Georgia and Ukraine.” An assumption. Certainly.
► The fact is: The Georgian judiciary already issued a search and arrest warrant for Kalandadze in 2015. So far, however, the general has remained unmolested, even when travelling. BZ has his passport with entry stamps in October, November and most recently on December 16, 2021.
Entry and passport control to Germany worked without any problems. But three days later – arrest!
Once again, Kalandadze is the first to provide an explanation: “There was no Interpol request for my arrest, it was a bilateral request from Georgia.” If that were correct, then that would be a procedure that the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Foreign Ministry would have to ask themselves whether this is the case was?
And indeed. Interpol responded to the BZ query: “Giorgi Kalandadze is not and has never been the subject of a Red Notice.” (Red Notice is an Interpol wanted notice).
The Brandenburg Attorney General Andreas Behm (his authority had applied for the extradition arrest warrant at the end of December) says, on the other hand: “Arrest warrant, arrest request and also the German search alert have existed for several years.” (…) Interpol was involved in the past.” A Red Notice, that is true, “did not exist at the time of the arrest”.
What does the Foreign Office know?
Kalandadze himself believes that the Georgian judiciary has increased the pressure on him again because shortly before my arrest he announced in the Georgian media that Georgians convicted of being Russian spies had been released.
Whether that was the reason remains to be seen. The Brandenburg Attorney General makes it clear: “The actual extradition request, including the associated extradition documents, will be sent through diplomatic channels (ie via the respective foreign ministries).”
So does the key to arresting the Ukraine general ultimately lie with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (41, Greens)? BZ wanted to know whether the Federal Foreign Office knew about the case and sent the press office a list of ten questions.
The questions were not answered.
That says Baerbock spokesman Christofer Burger
Instead, a spokesman referred to the government press conference on Thursday, in which the explosive topic was briefly touched upon. The statement by Baerbock spokesman Christofer Burger: “We are aware of the case. And I can tell you that, of course, in the course of mutual legal assistance proceedings, the competent courts, but of course also the Federal Government, make a thorough assessment of whether compliance with the rule of law can be expected in a specific case or whether there are other concerns in this regard. As mentioned, this test is carried out on a case-by-case basis. That’s why I can’t say anything more about this individual case.” The spokesman does not mention exactly what happened long ago by the Brandenburg Higher Regional Court on January 4th.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Ministry of Justice announced through their spokespersons Marek Wrede (Interior) and Rabea Bönnighausen (Justice) that “as usual, no information can be given on specific individual cases in the area of legal assistance”. The Brandenburg Higher Regional Court confirmed its own decision on BZ request.
also read
► War is threatening in Ukraine! Foreign Office prepares evacuation
► For me as a Berliner, the Russian threat is like a bad déjà vu
Ukraine protests the arrest
In the meantime, the government in Kiev has protested against the arrest, both directly and through the ambassador in Germany.
Kalandadze himself says in an interview that the criminal proceedings in Georgia are “fictitious”. He was sentenced in “absence”. The object of Georgia’s extradition request, as the Königs Wusterhausen district court recorded on December 20, 2021 at its hearing: “He (Kalandadze), in his capacity as deputy chief of staff of the Georgian armed forces, is said to have arrested terrorist suspect Elberd Koberidze together with other military personnel on July 28, 2012 beaten and tortured in a military police building to force a confession.”
A serious accusation. What does Kalandadze say about this? “Yes, that is the accusation. But I didn’t even arrest the man, as they say. The man is said to have smuggled bombs from Abkhazia to Georgia.” Did he abuse the man? Kalandadze says: “No, I was not specifically involved in the interrogations as chief of staff.”
Kalandadze resisted extradition
As BZ available minutes show, Kalandadze defended himself before the German district court on December 20 – five weeks ago – against the extradition.
He explained to the judge: “My story does not start in Ukraine, but in Georgia. I fought in Afghanistan and Iraq and against Russia, among other places. In 2012, the government changed the heads of the Georgian Joint Staff. The new government arrested me, the acting general, in my duty office. A big show was made of it. For a year and a half I had to prove my innocence in court against allegations that are greater than what I am being accused of here.”
But the judge remains unimpressed, even if the general continues to explain: “At that time the court was not completely under the influence of the new government, so I was able to prove my innocence on August 1st, 2013. In 2014 I officially left Georgia. No criminal case was instituted against me and I went to Ukraine. In 2014 I transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. I was in a high position there.”
Kalandadze further stated: “As soon as I heard that a criminal case had been instituted against me in Georgia, I informed the Ukrainian authorities that the case against me was a political one. This was also reported on Georgian television. The show was called ‘The Crown Witness’ and it was about the trial we’re talking about today. The witnesses said they testified under pressure. The Ukrainian foreign authorities granted me asylum. In the course of this criminal proceeding, my property was confiscated. Until 2019 I stayed in Ukraine as an asylum seeker. Two years ago, President Zelensky granted me Ukrainian citizenship. I am the sole provider of my family.”
Fear of physical violence, but court remains tough
The general asked the judge at the district court of Königs Wusterhausen: “Would it be possible that I don’t have to spend the time before the trial in prison, but in a kind of house arrest?”
► Apparently Kalandadze suspects what could happen to him in detention – also in Germany: “I ask you not to lock me in a cell with Russians because I fought against Russia.” He makes it clear to the judge that he fears physical attacks: “ There is a danger for me there from the Russians, Afghans, Iraqis and Georgians because of my political position.”
But the judge is firm. She insists on extradition. Kalandadze is first taken to the prison in Cottbus (Dissenchen). A week later, the hearing before the Brandenburg Higher Regional Court.
But even before the country’s highest jury, the Ukraine general is not heard – and no mercy: “In the extradition case against Hiohri Kalandadze (…) because of extradition to Georgia (…), the Brandenburg Higher Regional Court decided: The persecuted person will be placed in provisional extradition custody ordered.” This had been requested by the Attorney General of the State of Brandenburg.
The reasoning of the court: “The extradition of the persecuted person does not appear inadmissible from the outset. The ability to extradite seems given (Kalandadze had stated that he was not suffering from any illness).”
And this despite the fact that the three professional judges themselves recognize that Kalandadze “can expect to be given a substantial prison sentence in Georgia.” The fact that his daughter lives in Germany cannot put the judges in a mild mood. Despite “social ties” there is a “risk of absconding.”
What’s next for Kalandadze?
BZ learned: If the court sticks to its decision, then Kalandadze would have to be extradited. BZ learned from the Federal Foreign Office: “In the end, it will probably be decided politically whether it will be extradited.”