The head of the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Mr. Vladimer Bortsvadze made an official statement to the representatives of Georgian and foreign media, regarding the arrest of the fugitive of UK Jack Shepherd in Georgia.
„In the beginning of January, 2019 the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia received the information about the possibility that UK citizen Jack Shepherd, who was previously convicted of negligent manslaughter in UK, was on the territory of Georgia.
Based on the data analysis, it was identified that Jack Shepherd had crossed the state border of Georgia in March 2018, while he was not yet on international search, hence there was no legal ground for his arrest.
Upon initiative of Georgian side and in active cooperation with the UK, on January 12, 2019 international search was announced on Jack Shepherd. This was followed by intensive operative-search activities by Georgian police aiming at arresting the wanted person.
Within ten days after the search was announced, Jack Shepherd handed himself to Georgian police, as while being internationally wanted, he would not be able to cross the state border and he was simultaneously subject to active operative activities by Georgian law enforcement.
Despite the fact that prior to appearing at the police, he hired a lawyer and addressed the media, he will still be subject to relevant legal procedures.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia continues to undertake all necessary measures and actively cooperates with UK law enforcement for the extradition of Mr. Shepherd. At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs appreciates the efforts of all those involved in ensuring Jack Shepherd’s voluntary appearance at Georgian police.
Additional details are part of operative-searching activities and are classified, considering their content.
Of course, we had intense cooperation and certain information regarding his alleged location, which eventually forced him to hand himself to the law enforcement.
We have initiated to exchange the information with UK side and receive some information from our counterparts in order to identify potential location of the person concerned and arrest him. Accordingly, we will continue active cooperation with UK on this case.”– said Vladimer Bortsvadze
