Tbilisi judge orders review of Belarusian asylum seeker’s case

March 26, Pozirk. Belarusian human rights defender Raman Kiślak has had a limited success in a legal battle against the denial of asylum in Georgia as the Tbilisi City Court partially satisfied his appeal.

“This is the first case for Belarusians in Georgia when an appeal against the denial of asylum was satisfied at least partially,” Kiślak told Pozirk.

The development is significant since Georgia has not satisfied a single asylum request from Belarusians in 2019–2024, according to Pozirk’s analysis of its interior ministry’s statistics.

“My lawyer says that the interior ministry’s migration department must review my case,” he added. However, the court reportedly refused to give his asylum.

During the proceedings, discussions focused, among other things, on the potential threats of the death penalty, should he be deported to Belarus, he said.

Belarusian law enforcement officers have charged him with “an act of terrorism,” “high treason” and “conspiracy to seize power” in connection with his human rights activities. The three criminal articles carry the death penalty as the maximum sentence.

Earlier, Georgia’s migration department argued that the judge should reject Kiślak’s application, citing an undisclosed threat to national security. Georgia’s security service disclosed the threat only to the judge.

Georgia hosts around 12,000 Belarusians, including civil society activists and journalists who have fled politically-motivated persecution.

Also read: Georgia did not satisfy a single asylum request from Belarusians in 2019–2024

“State secret” threatens Belarusian activist’s asylum in Georgia