Parliament Committee Chair rejects "any Gov’t representative" has "issued attacks" on US Ambassador

Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights of the Georgian Parliament, on Thursday said he rejected the idea that "any representative" of the Georgian Government had issued attacks on the United States Ambassador in the country.

Sarjveladze was commenting on a statement by the US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price, who on Wednesday said that “disinformation and personal attacks on Ambassador Degnan or her team are not consistent with how partners communicate with one another”, in remarks related to Georgia.

What if [Ned Price] is not well-informed, or a miscommunication has taken place again? Because in this case, I don't think there has been an attack issued towards the United States Ambassador by any representative of the [Georgian] Government. I can't agree with that, and I don't think it's a correct assessment”, the Parliament official said.

Sarjveladze noted “questions had arisen” in the public after Tbilisi City Court Judge Lasha Chkhikvadze on Friday alleged interference of an US Embassy representative in his sentencing of Nika Gvaramia, the founder of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi channel, to imprisonment in May.

As for the issues that have come up for discussion in the public, the judge has come out and said what he said. The questions [subsequently] arose in the public, and the politicians also had questions on this issue”, he noted

The Ambassador's explanation was that even among friends, there may be some disagreements, different views, and it is necessary to talk about it. I don't think the situation in this case is as dramatic as some journalists try to make it sound”, he concluded in his comments.

Degnan on Friday said any suggestion of the US interfering in the judicial process in Georgia was “simply not true”.