Georgian Parliament Speaker doubts President will pardon ex-Pres. Saakashvili

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday said it was doubtful that President Salome Zourabichvili would pardon the currently imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

In his comments to the media, Papuashvili said Zourabichvili had voiced her position on the matter “several times” and he saw “no reason” for the President to change it. Everyone who was “trying to ensure” the release of the former President from prison has been “obstructing” justice, he emphasised.

The Parliament Speaker noted the Parliament did not have any right to release a prisoner and turn justice “a matter of personal liking”, adding everyone trying to change the decisions taken under the Georgian legislation, has been interfering with justice and contradicting European standards.

• Parliament Speaker: disappointing that ex-Pres. Saakashvili’s “domestic, foreign allies” try to evade his punishment

The President Zourabichvili in November said she had “no power” to pardon Saakashvili as the cases against the latter were still pending and the domestic legislation prevented pardons before the completion of all judicial proceedings, adding she did not wish to “become an instrument for more polarisation” on the domestic political scene, also referencing the “autocratic” former Government of Saakashvili as her motivation against issuing a pardon.

Later in December, she said the “principal question” on whether she would pardon the imprisoned former President would be “answered in time”.

Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021, after his clandestine return to Georgia, and is serving a six-year term for two separate abuse of power cases, with three other cases involving his term pending.