Ruling party Executive Secretary: Saakashvili’s 2021 arrival from Ukraine to Georgia a “special operation” to involve country in war
In his remarks over the matter, Mdinaradze alleged the “authors of the special operation” had ensured “even the President of Ukraine” had now made a statement “in favour of the executor of the operation”. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the 2021 arrival of former President Mikheil Saakashvili from Ukraine to Georgia had been a “special operation” to involve the country in the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Mdinaradze was responding to a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who on Tuesday called on Georgian authorities to allow a transfer of the imprisoned former President - now a citizen of Ukraine - to a Ukrainian-, European- or American-based clinic for further treatment.
In his remarks over the matter, Mdinaradze alleged the “authors of the special operation” had ensured “even the President of Ukraine” had now made a statement “in favour of the executor of the operation”.
Sending Saakashvili to Georgia was a special operation. Today, the authors of the special operation even secured a statement from the President of Ukraine in favour of the object of the special operation, its executor. This is a simple assessment”, the GD official said.
“The statement of a number of high-ranking Ukrainian officials that there are no people of war in the Georgian Government and that Mikheil Saakashvili would have [involved the country in the war] can be considered in agreement with this statement”, he alleged.
Yes, they have this expectation, and the planners of the special operation [have now] ensured that even the Ukrainian President has responded and called on Georgian authorities”, Mdinaradze noted.
The former President has been receiving treatment at the Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi 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.
Saakashvili 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.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Monday said the goal of the hunger strike declared by several members of the opposition United National Movement party in support of allowing the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili a transfer abroad for medical treatment was for “facilitating his escape from responsibility”.
Roman Gotsiridze, a MP for the opposition United National Movement party, on Friday said it would “not be right” for party members to leave their Parliamentary mandates in protest over the latest developments around the health and sentence of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
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.
Archil Talakvadze, the Georgian Parliament's Vice Speaker, on Thursday said the entourage of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili “do not care about his health”, alleging their interest in facilitating his escape from justice through a bypassing of the law.
Citizens opposition party MP Aleko Elisashvili on Monday criticised the appeal of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for Georgian authorities to enable the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili's transfer abroad for medical treatment as "inappropriate".
The Ukrainian Government was “directly involved” in the “special operation” to send the former President Mikheil Saakashvili to Georgia and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy “bears his share of responsibility” in this regard, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Tuesday in response to the appeal of Zelenskyy to Georgian authorities to transfer the imprisoned former President Saakashvili abroad for medical treatment.
Georgia's Vice Prime Minister Thea Tsulukiani on Tuesday responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for Georgian authorities to allow the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili a transfer abroad for treatment by highlighting human rights violations during the latter’s time in Government.
Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday urged the Ukrainian Government to “distance itself” from several of its representatives who he said had “openly revealed their desire” to see Georgia involved in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.