Tbilisi Court Rejects Kulanin's Extradition to Russia, Grants Seven Days to Leave for Third Country

The Tbilisi City Court ruled on pardoned Russian activist Denis Kulanin's case after Georgia's Migration Department petitioned on Sep 1 to expel him to Russia despite an earlier court order authorizing his departure to a third country. The court rejected extradition to Russia and instead gave Kulanin seven days to voluntarily leave Georgia for a third country, resolving the standoff that began when he was blocked from boarding a Sep 1 flight to Yerevan. Protesters had rallied for several consecutive days demanding his safe departure, and Amnesty International had warned that returning him to Russia would violate the principle of non-refoulement given his history as a Navalny campaign volunteer and vocal opponent of the invasion of Ukraine.