Georgia Agrees to Extradite Chechens to Russia

On November 29, 2002, the Georgian Government announced it would extradite three more of the 13 Chechen detained by Georgia on the border with Russia in August. A diplomatic flap arose when Georgian officials, after initially refusing to extradite, changed their minds under pressure from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and surrendered five fighters to Russia. After the surrender, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that no further surrenders should occur. However, in November, the ECHR ruled that Georgia and Russia could resolve the issue between themselves. The diplomatic dispute between Georgia and Russia over the extradition of the Chechens illustrate the issues over extraditing persons charged with involvement in the Chechen-Russian dispute. The Georgia-Russian fora in adjudicating international criminal cooperation matters.