Parliament Speaker stresses former President Saakashvili “committed crimes in Georgia” in response to Ukrainian foreign office
Papuashvili’s comments followed the Ukrainian body’s call on Thursday to allow Saakashvili’s transfer to a European- or United States-based clinic for further treatment, following similar calls from the imprisoned former President’s lawyers and a part of the Georgian opposition. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday responded to a call by the Ukrainian foreign office for Georgian authorities to accept the request for delaying the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s sentence for ensuring his medical treatment abroad by saying the former official had committed crimes in Georgia that necessitated his serving of the sentence in the country.
Papuashvili’s comments followed the Ukrainian body’s call on Thursday to allow Saakashvili’s transfer to a European- or United States-based clinic for further treatment, following similar calls from the imprisoned former President’s lawyers and a part of the Georgian opposition.
Saakashvili committed crimes on the territory of Georgia. No one denies these crimes anymore. We have also seen the resolution [of the European Parliament], in which not a single word was said about Saakashvili being tried wrongfully. No one disputes [validity of his court cases] anymore”, the head of the legislative body said.
“Accordingly, he committed a crime on the territory of Georgia and is [therefore] serving his sentence in Georgia. He is not the only citizen of Ukraine, as far as I know, who is serving a sentence on the territory of Georgia, in a Georgian prison”, Papuashvili concluded.
Saakashvili has been receiving treatment at the Vivamedi clinic since May 12, after he was moved from the Gori Military Hospital - where he was transferred in late November 2021 from the hospital of the Gldani No.18 prison. The latter, in turn, served as his detention location after his move from the Rustavi No.12 prison, the initial detention venue, in early November last year.
The third President, currently a citizen of Ukraine, was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 on his clandestine return to Georgia ahead of municipal elections. He has been serving a six-year term for abuse of power in two separate cases stemming back to his time in office, while three other cases are pending.