Ex-Pres. Saakashvili demands right of "active engagement" in politics, tells court of "very poor health"
Saakashvili said he wished for “more active engagement” in domestic politics than “appearing just once in three months”. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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Georgia’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili on Monday demanded to be allowed an “opportunity to openly take part in political processes” through “open debates”, and urged the public to “stand up” for his support.
Saakashvili made the comment as a trial hearing over the case of the 2007 violent breakup of an opposition protest in Tbilisi - during his time in office - was held in Tbilisi City Court on Monday, with the former official appearing via a video link.
The former President said he wished for “more active engagement” in domestic politics than “appearing just once in three months” through court-related sessions, claiming despite “utterly deteriorated health” he felt “spiritually fit and determined to serve the country”.
Praising the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “my President”, Saakashvili said Russia was “on the verge [of destruction]” on the backdrop of its ongoing aggression against Ukraine, and claimed “we should be strong and ready” to use the developments for a “peaceful reintegration” of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.
Claiming he was “absolutely innocent” on all charges related to his time in power - and calling them “invented” - Saakashvili accused the Georgian Government of “bringing me to this [poor] condition”, before standing up to show the audience his body via the video link session.
He demanded an apology from Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili to him - calling himself the “founder of the Georgian state” - as well as members of the European Parliament who have supported Saakashvili in his detention, and the former official’s family for “bringing me to his condition”.
Putting Perceptions Before Facts Should Not Be the West’s Approach to Georgia. Here’s Why:
— Shalva Papuashvili ???????? (@shpapuashvili) June 21, 2023
The belief that “perceptions are more important than facts” has done a huge disservice to some of our foreign partners, who fell victim of Mikheil Saakashvili’s large-scale disinformation… pic.twitter.com/GYA37q600w
In his latest comments, Papuashvili urged Saakashvili and the United National Movement party founded by him to “apologise for damaging the country’s image” by “fake and unfounded claims” on the former President’s alleged torture and inhumane treatment in custody, following the European Court of Human Rights ruling in May that rejected Saakashvili’s transfer abroad on health grounds.
- European court ruling “put an end" to "slanderous, anti-state” campaign by ex-Pres. Saakashvili - PM
The Parliament Speaker and other officials said the ruling had “put an end” to Saakashvili’s “fake and anti-state campaign” on his health, adding the former official had “misled” the country’s foreign partners with his “lies” and made them engaged in his “harmful allegations” to the Government.
In response to Saakashvili's statements during the day, Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said the ECHR ruling had “helped Saakashvili to decide that he no longer is dying, after having claimed so for 600 days”, in reference to allegations of his mistreatment in custody.
Kobakhidze stressed “any rallies” in support of Saakashvili would be “fruitless” as the latter and his party “have no public support”.
Irakli Zarkua, a ruling party MP, said Saakashvili’s statements on his engagement in politics after the ECHR ruling had “confirmed” his allegations about torture and ill-treatment had been “fake” and he and demanded UNM to “apologise for harming national interests”.
Parliament Vice Speaker Archil Talakvadze added Saakashvili was “in a debate with his country and himself” and added the ruling party had “have nothing to argue about with him”, noting his rights as a prisoner had been “fully ensured” by the current Government.
Saakashvili is currently serving a six-year-term for abuse of power while in office in two separate cases, while three other cases involving him are still pending. He was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 after eight years abroad, following his clandestine return to Georgia ahead of domestic municipal elections.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said the European Court of Human Rights' rejection of the country’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s request on his transfer abroad on health grounds had “put an end to a slanderous campaign” against his Government.
Fifteen opposition activists, including opposition leader Gigi Ugulava, were arrested at a rally near Tbilisi City Court for disobeying police orders earlier today during a trial concerning former president Mikheil Saakashvili. Saakashvili was allowed to attend the hearing in person, which concerns illegal dispersal of an opposition rally back in 2007, for the first time since his arrest in Tbilisi on October 1. Before the hearing took place, Saakashvili said that he distrusts the Georgian court, noting that he ‘would have used the opportunity’ to address the public.
Georgia’s former President Mikheil Saakashvili has been detained today, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has announced. "Our law enforcement agencies had prior information about his (Saakashvili’s) movement from Ukraine to Georgia and the process was under the control” Garibashvili stated.
On November 7, 2007 a series of anti-government protests took place across Georgia and ended with protesters being dispersed by police who used tear gas and water cannons.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said claims by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia was “killing” Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s imprisoned former President who holds Ukrainian citizenship, “at the hands of the Georgian Government”, were “insulting”.
Georgian Parliament Vice Speaker Archil Talakvadze on Tuesday said the decision by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ask the Georgian Ambassador to leave Ukraine within 48 hours for consultations in Georgia concerning the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili did “not serve Georgia-Ukraine friendship” but added it “cannot cast a shadow on Georgia's support for the Ukrainian people and Ukraine”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday highlighted “two major lies” of an alleged “vicious” campaign against Georgia’s democratic image over the past year and a half, in a social media message that noted the controversy over the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s alleged torture in detention and the alleged evasion of sanctions imposed on Russia through the territory of Georgia.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Tuesday called on imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and “people who are sincerely concerned with his recovery” to follow doctors’ recommendations, instead of “manipulating” his health.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said the Ukrainian Government “questioning” the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, which in May rejected an appeal by Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former President of Georgia and a citizen of Ukraine, for transfer abroad from Georgia for treatment, would “not benefit” its legal fight against Russia for the latter’s ongoing invasion.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday condemned the “authoritarian rule” of the previous United National Movement Government on the anniversary of the violent dispersal of a peaceful anti-Government rally in Tbilisi in 2007.