Law360 Canada (September 25, 2023, 9:16 AM EDT) -- Application by applicant, Levan Bekauri, for judicial review of Refugee Protection Division (RPD) denying his refugee claim. The applicant entered Canada and submitted a claim for refugee protection asserting that he was at risk in Georgia because of his membership in the United National Movement (UNM). He claimed that he was threatened and kidnapped when he refused to provide false testimony against a man who recruited martial arts athletes to form plainclothes punishment squads to assault opposition members. The RPD rejected the claim on credibility. The RPD found that the applicant’s documents and submissions were fraudulent and inauthentic. The applicant subsequently submitted an application for permanent residence based on humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) grounds, but it was refused. The officer found that the applicant’s claim relating to his asserted membership in the UNM was a reiteration of the same material allegations that the RPD had previously assessed and found not to be credible. The applicant submitted that the officer afforded the RPD’s findings considerable weight instead of making his own determination with respect to the applicant’s hardship in Georgia upon return....