Georgian Vice-PM slams Norwegian Conservative Party for awarding ex-Pres. Saakashvili for democracy, human rights

Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Prime Minister of Georgia, on Monday criticised the Norwegian Conservative Party for awarding the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili with the Sjur Lindebrække Prize for Democracy and Human Rights. 

• Saakashvili’s Norwegian award for human rights, democracy an “insult” to Georgian people - PM

Saakashvili on Saturday announced he had received the Prize that has been handed to individuals or organisations for their “extraordinary work” for human rights and democracy since 2007.

Describing Saakashvili as a “sadist” who had violated human rights in a “number of cases” while in office, Tsulukiani said it was a “problem” both in Georgia and abroad that “sometimes black is said to be white”.

The former Minister of Justice, who currently heads the Culture Ministry, stressed Saakashvili’s guilt had been confirmed by rulings of the European Court of Human Rights over the years.

We do not even know what to say when a lie is taken as the truth and a criminal is rewarded as a dove of peace. This is simply shameful", said the official. 

Saakashvili, who has Ukrainian citizenship and held a public post in the country, was arrested on return to Georgia in October 2021 and is serving a six-year term for abuse of power in a case he had been convicted on. Three other cases against him are pending.