Ex-President Saakashvili has "no legal opportunity" to return to Georgian politics - Justice Minister
Bregadze pointed to the requirement of nationality for engaging in domestic political activity, and added if Saakashvili wished to participate in domestic politics he would need to apply for citizenship, a matter on which the President of Georgia would have the final say in accordance with the law. Photo: Ministry of Justice of Georgia press office
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Minister of Justice of Georgia Rati Bregadze on Wednesday said the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili had "no legal opportunity" to return to the domestic political scene since he had not been a citizen of the country since 2015.
Bregadze’s comment followed a social media post by Saakashvili last week, in which he expressed his intention to “actively participate” in domestic politics.
Bregadze pointed to the requirement of nationality for engaging in domestic political activity, and added if Saakashvili wished to participate in domestic politics he would need to apply for citizenship, a matter on which the President of Georgia would have the final say in accordance with the law.
The Minister also said it would be "difficult" for him to "make legal comments on this matter", adding his "personal opinion" that it would be "better" if Saakashvili kept the citizenship "of the country he has been serving", in reference to the former official's work in public positions in Ukraine during the years since he left Georgia, and until his arrest on his clandestine return to the latter country in 2021.
Ukraine’s former President Petro Poroshenko appointed Saakashvili as the governor of the Odesa region in southwestern Ukraine in 2015, a day after Ukrainian media reported he had granted Saakashvili Ukrainian citizenship.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said those who called for the release of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili on health grounds while knowing he was “faking his health condition” “must apologise to the Georgian public”.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Monday said the efforts of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and his team to return to politics in the country was a “forced move”, and alleged their “main goal” of “evading justice”.
Georgia’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili can no longer call himself a Georgian citizen.Today the country’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili signed a decree to annul the Georgian citizenship of the former president.
Georgia’s current President Giorgi Margvelahsvili announced he would annul Saakashvili’s Georgian citizenship, as he had received Ukrainian citizenship, and it was against the law to hold dual citizenship unless in special circumstances.
Rati Bregadze, the Minister of Justice of Georgia, on Tuesday told the Georgian Public Broadcaster the Ukrainian Government had not been in communication with their Georgian counterparts to request extradition of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.