Ruling party sec gen: pardoning fmr pres. Saakashvili up to president, but “everyone must answer for crimes”
Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 after his clandestine return to Georgia. Currently he is serving a six-year term for two separate abuse of power cases while in office, with three other cases involving his term pending. Photo: Tbilisi City Hall
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Kakha Kaladze, the mayor of Tbilisi and the secretary general of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said a decision on whether to offer a pardon to the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili was for the current president Salome Zourabichvili to make, but added his position was that “everyone must answer for crimes committed”.
In his remarks over the controversy around the president - who, along with his lawyers and a part of the domestic opposition, has claimed a significant deterioration of his health in detention and need for a transfer abroad for treatment - Kaladze said “relevant agencies” were “doing everything to ensure the health and safety” of all prisoners including the former official, a task he called “very important”.
“Pardoning [Saakashvili] is up to the president. The president has to make the decision, but I repeat, a person who is accused and has committed a specific crime in relation to specific cases, my position is that everyone should be held accountable”, the GD official said.
When you are in politics and you are a politician and especially the first person of the country, you have a very big responsibility, and it is very sad what was happening in the country regarding the freedom of expression and speech, what was the attitude towards the business sector, towards people with different opinions [during Saakashvili’s term in office]. It was very serious and I think that everyone who committed a crime in this direction should be held accountable”, Kaladze continued.
Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 after his clandestine return to Georgia. Currently he is serving a six-year term for two separate abuse of power cases while in office, with three other cases involving his term pending.
His lawyers and family members have claimed the former president is in “urgent need” of treatment abroad, adding local professionals had been “unable” to make “accurate diagnosis and ensure relevant treatment” for months.
Georgian president Salome Zourabaichvili told BBC HARDTalk on Monday she had “no power” to pardon the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who, along with his lawyers and some opposition figures, has claimed to be suffering from serious health issues in detention.
Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former president of Georgia, on Monday dismissed claims by his lawyer Valeri Gelbakhiani over his alleged poisoning while in custody, stating he had “never” told any of his lawyers he had suspected poisoning had triggered his current “complicated health”.
The special penitentiary service on Sunday said it had not been provided with any official report, confirming the authenticity of information disseminated by the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s lawyer about the possible poisoning of the prisoner.
Overall six criminal charges are filed against recently arrested Georgian ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili who has been convicted to six years of imprisonment in two cases while four other criminal cases are still being heard in Tbilisi City Court.
Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili on Thursday said domestic courts should allow the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakshvili’s transfer abroad for medical treatment if the anticipated report by health professionals studying his condition established ”serious complications”.
Thea Tsulukiani, the vice prime minister and former minister of justice of Georgia, on Friday urged president Salome Zourabichvili to refrain from making “any calls” to domestic courts over the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili, saying it could be seen as interference in judicial developments around the former official.
Georgian justice minister Rati Bregadze on Tuesday said the government was offering the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili to bring “any doctor from any foreign clinic” and involve them in his treatment in Georgia.
Tbilisi mayor Kakha Kaladze on Wednesday said there was “no political message” in city authorities’ selection of the “City of Peace” message to mark the New Year's Eve in the capital.