Photo: Radio Liberty

Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) is concerned about the vicious and anti-human rights practices of extraditing people from Georgia to Russia. We call the government of Georgia to protect the fundamental human rights of Alexandr Bandyukov, as one more expected victim of extradition and thus, the victim of inhuman and cruel treatment.

Alexander Bandyukov is a citizen of Russia. He was distinguished with his critical positions towards the local government. In 2018, a case was launched against him in the Russian Federation. Due to unjust persecution, Bandyukov left the country, arrived in Georgia, and applied for international protection status. After the series of appellations, the Appeals Court granted humanitarian status for one year, however, on January 27, 2021, the Migration Department of the MIA refused to prolong his status. Even though his health condition, which was the reason for granting him humanitarian status a year ago, has not changed and further deteriorated, MIA Migration Department did not take into consideration his interests and put Alexandr Bandyukov under the risk of extradition. His health condition is extremely aggravated. Due to several illegal decisions and stress in Georgia, he underwent three difficult surgeries. He is still in the hospital.

Bandyukov is 62 years old and has been living in Georgia with his wife for more than 2 years. Until 2018, Bandyukov worked at the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsky City Hall and took a critical and unwavering stance on corrupt practices prevalent in the region, making his personality unacceptable to local authorities and police. In this context, in 2018 Alexandr Bandyukov became a victim of arbitrary criminal prosecution for alleged fraud and bribery. During the investigation, he and his wife even became the victims of beatings and ill-treatment by police. Although Alexandr Bandyukov actively fought for the truth in Russia and confirmed the fabrication of several key pieces of evidence in the investigation, it soon became clear to him that he could not defend his rights in the justice system of the Russian Federation and arrived in Georgia in September 2018. He considered Georgia as a safe and democratic state and he thought that he would be able to take shelter here and protect his life and freedom.

Alexander Bandyukov has critical positions towards Putin's government, and he participated in rallies in support of Georgia in Moscow, during the August 2008 war.

Upon his arrival in Georgia, Alexander Bandyukov applied to the Migration Department of the Ministry of Interior Affairs and asked for international protection status. Although he handed over several pieces of evidence to the MIA Department of Migration and the General Prosecutor’s Office, confirming his poor health condition and his apparent incompatibility with the conditions in the penitentiary system of the Russian Federation, the Migration Department refused to grant him the status. Soon after, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia started the extradition proceedings at the request of the Russian Federation.

Alexander Bandyukov has been in extradition custody for almost 9 months since May 15, 2019. Due to persecution in the Russian Federation and complete disregard for his rights and interests in Georgia, Alexander Bandyukov's health deteriorated sharply and he underwent three tense surgeries.[1]

After several court disputes, according to the ruling of the Tbilisi Court of Appeals on February 4, 2020, the MIA Migration Department was assigned to grant Alexandr Bandyukov one-year humanitarian status. According to the Court, under Article 19 of the Law of Georgia on International Protection, a person may be granted humanitarian status if it is proven that he or she will be put under serious danger in the country of origin. In light of this, the Court considered Bandyukov's serious health condition, the risk that he might develop a recurrence of coronary heart disease due to improper treatment and nutrition, and considered that reports of authoritative international organizations show that access to health services and food is limited in prisons in the Russian Federation. According to the court, the humanitarian status may be extended after 1 year if the circumstances, based on which the person was granted this status, still exist.

Following the decision on granting the humanitarian status, the Supreme Court of Georgia declared the extradition of Alexander Bandyukov to Russia inadmissible during the period of such status. However, on January 27, 2021, when the preconditions for granting the humanitarian status were not changed and the conclusion of the medical examination confirmed that Alexandr Bandyukov's health condition had deteriorated sharply, the MIA  Migration Department refused Alexander Bandyukov to prolong the status without any justification. In making this decision, the agency not only did not consider the health condition of Alexandr Bandyukov but also did not take into account the very important circumstance that on August 21, 2020, the General Secretariat of Interpol removed Alexandr Bandyukov from the list of wanted persons from the Interpol database, due to the falsified accusations of Russian Federation.

Due to the stress received after the decision of the MIA Migration Department, Alexander Bandyukov's health condition deteriorated sharply and he was taken to hospital on February 10, 2021, with a heart attack. He remains in the hospital until now. The examination of February 10, 2021, also openly confirms that Alexander Bandyukov has several simultaneous serious illnesses, his health condition is progressive, the prognosis is severe and his travel by plane, long transportation by car or train, is extremely dangerous for life.

In this context, it is clear that the decision of the Migration Department of January 27, 2021, is clearly unfounded and arbitrary. We believe that by refusing to grant Alexander Bandyukov international protection status in Georgia, and in the event of his extradition to the Russian Federation, there is a high risk that he will be subjected to torture and inhuman treatment, which poses a real threat to his life and health. Therefore, it is essential that the government of Georgia should grant him humanitarian status and should not allow his extradition to Russia.

This case reveals the increasing practice of extradition in the Russian Federation and anti-human rights in recent years and creates an extremely disturbing and vicious experience of violation of fundamental human rights due to political loyalty. The Georgian authorities, without properly studying the extremely serious situation in prisons and penitentiary medical institutions of the Russian Federation, as well as the individual circumstances of the case and the risks to life and health, allow the extradition of accused persons only based on standard diplomatic guarantees from the Russian Federation, which in most cases, sacrifices these persons for torture and cruel treatment. It should also be noted that the Ministry of Justice does not disclose information about the process of monitoring the condition of already extradited persons and its consequences.

We believe it is of fundamental importance for the state to radically reconsider its practice of cooperation on criminal matters with Russia, as well as with neighboring non-democratic countries, and to base its decisions on unwavering protection of human rights and the principles of humanism.

Such a practice, in addition to violating the rights, lives, and health of refugees and asylum-seekers from neighboring countries severely undermines the democratic order as it creates a disturbing experience of instrumentalizing and neglecting human rights for political purposes. Such experiences also severely damage the image and feeling of Georgia as a democratic and secure country for the citizens of our neighboring (and not only) countries.

Extremely disturbing experiences of human rights abuses due to loyalty to neighboring countries have emerged in the cases of Azerbaijani dissidents, members of the Feto movement persecuted by the Turkish authorities, and the extradition of North Caucasians and other citizens to the Russian Federation.

The case of Alexandr Bandyukov demonstrates a series of arbitrary and illegal decisions of a number of state agencies, which require a proper legal and political response. Moreover, the illegal decisions he faced and the stress deriving from them, significantly worsened his health condition, and Alexandr Bandyukov is still fighting for his life in the hospital.

Given the abovementioned, we call

Ministry of Interior Affairs and MIA Migration Department,

• Reconsider the continuation of humanitarian status to Alexandr Bandyukov and grant him humanitarian protection status, taking into account his state of health and the risks of substantial damage to his life and health in the event of his extradition to Russia;

Minister of Justice of Georgia

• Terminate and do not allow the extradition of Alexandr Bandyukov to Russia for humanitarian reasons;
• Review the anti-human and anti-human rights practices of extradition to neighboring non-democratic countries, primarily to

Parliament of Georgia and Prime Minister of Georgia

• Given the context of this case and the anti-human rights content of extradition practices in neighboring countries, take an interest in this case and ensure effective oversight and policy review of this and other similar cases.

Share