A Kazakh truck driver, Ivan Chekulaev, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in Georgia over a painkiller found in his medicine kit, according to infohub.kz.
The man was detained at the Georgian port of Poti in April. He suffered from severe back pain and had a strong painkiller with him. In Georgia, the drug is classified as a psychotropic and narcotic substance, so the 44-year-old driver was arrested.
According to his wife, the back pain medication was prescribed by a doctor in Germany, but he did not have the prescription with him. For six months, the family tried to secure his release. The trucker's wife says Georgian doctors have no doubt about her husband's illness: while in custody, he is being treated by a neurosurgeon. But that did not help secure an acquittal.
"For what? For the fact that a man worked; for the fact that a man supported his family; for the fact that a man was driving home; for the fact that he was ill, he is sentenced to 16 years. I don't know how to live with this. I don't know how to explain it to the children. The youngest child doesn't know yet. How do I say that daddy... Daddy will only be home in 16 years, when he left on just another routine trip," says the man's wife, Yulia Chekulaeva.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier said that Kazakhstan's embassy in Georgia is providing consular and legal assistance to Ivan Chekulaev. Staff have visited the man at the detention facility, attended court hearings, helped find a lawyer and are maintaining contact with his relatives. Diplomats will continue to provide consular and legal assistance to the Kazakh citizen.