Parliament Speaker suspends MPs’ Saakashvili visits without permission

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday suspended the right of MPs to visit the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili in detention without permission.

The official said the decision, coming into effect from Tuesday, was following a letter of the Justice Minister informing the Speaker about the upcoming tightening of the Special Penitentiary Service’s security measures related to the visits, in order to “ensure safety and legal interests” of Saakashvili.

In his address, the Minister requested the planned stricter measures be taken into account in granting the right of visit to MPs.

Papuashvili’s office also said 228 permits for visiting Saakashvili had been issued by the Speaker since October 3, 2021, and pointed out their scope had “long gone beyond” the formal purpose of the permits, designed to allow lawmakers to familiarise themselves with conditions of detention of prisoners.

[The permits are now instead] used directly for personal or business meetings with the prisoner, which was repeatedly pointed out publicly by the Speaker of the Parliament”, the release noted.

The Speaker’s office also stressed that along with the Special Penitentiary Service, the monitoring of appropriate conditions of detention was being primarily carried out by Saakashvili’s lawyers, who had made 533 visits to their client so far.

In addition, active monitoring is carried out by the Public Defender and their representatives, who, according to the Imprisonment Code, can visit any prisoner without hindrance around the clock”, Papuashvili’s office pointed out.