Foreign states awarding ex-Pres. Saakashvili an “insult” to victims of his rule - ruling party MP

Giorgi Kakhiani, an MP of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili receiving awards for his work for freedom or human rights from “certain foreign states” was an “insult” to individuals who had experienced “severe violations” of their rights under the rule of his former United National Movement Government. 

The lawmaker’s comment came following Saakashvili’s social media post on Monday, in which he announced he was going to receive the Polish Prometheus Award for “contribution to the struggle for freedom”. 

In his remarks, Kakhiani said he suspected unidentified forces “lobbying” for the former official had led to his recent selection for Norway’s Sjur Lindebrekke Award for “promotion of human rights and democracy” and the Polish prize. 

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

Pointing to “total violation of human rights” under Saakashvili’s rule, Kakhiani stressed such awards were “absurd” and “insulting” to Georgian citizens. 

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 a case of abuse of power he had been convicted on in absentia.