Ruling party head says “politicised interference in justice” from MEPs “absolutely unacceptable”

Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said attempts of “politicised interference” with Georgian justice were “unacceptable”, in his remarks on debates held on Monday in the European Parliament about latest developments around the health and sentence of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

In his remarks over the matter, Kobakhidze stressed respect for the rule of law was expected from “everyone”, adding the expectation was “one of the main components of European values”.

“As for the attempt to interfere with justice with political motives, it is absolutely unacceptable. We are members of the Parliament of Georgia and we try to refrain as much as possible from making statements on topics related to the prisoner in question - his imprisonment, release, and so on. We are trying to [avoid] this, despite the fact that we are members of the Parliament of Georgia”, the GD official said.

It is absolutely unacceptable when MEPs try to carry out a politicised interference in justice. Everyone must respect the rule of law, which is one of the fundamental principles and one of the main components of European values. When we see MEPs who do not respect the elementary principle called the rule of law, it once again shows that there are serious problems in the European Parliament in terms of corruption. Corruption has many forms, it is not only about money”, he concluded.

Saakashvili is awaiting a trial hearing on whether he will be granted release or postponement of the rest of his sentence on medical grounds, with the session originally planned for Wednesday delayed to next week.