Parliament Speaker: former President’s involvement in “fake misinformation” on Saakashvili against country “unfortunate”
In his response, Papuashvili called on Margvelashvili to say “whether he had direct or indirect communication” with the lobbyists and whether he had “written the petition” in support of the former official. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday alleged Giorgi Margvelashvili, a former President of the country, had “accused” the state and its penitentiary service of “torturing” the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili in detention in an “unfortunate” development.
Papuashvili’s comment followed the latest disclosures on the United States Department of Justice’s website, which revealed the media company Cision PR Newswire had received $11,500 on behalf of Saakashvili for including a reference to Margvelashvili as a part of a “coalition whose efforts are to save the life of the former president, Saakashvili” in a press-release intended to be picked up by international media outlets.
In his response, Papuashvili called on Margvelashvili to say “whether he had direct or indirect communication” with the lobbyists and whether he had “written the petition” in support of the former official.
I think the [Georgian] public has seen the benefits of the ‘Russian law’ [that disclosed the lobbying information] that is in force in the United States, and therefore, we saw that it was precisely the ‘Russian law’ that gave us the opportunity to find out what kind of organised, orchestrated campaign was being conducted against Georgia”, Papuashvili said in reference to the proposed Georgian bill on transparency of foreign influence that was retracted following public protests that drew parallels with a law in Russia.
“If it were not for the ‘Russian law’ that is in force in the United States, of course, we would not have known this, because no such ‘Russian law’ has been adopted in the EU yet. We do not have a ‘Russian law’ in Georgia - otherwise, if we had it, we would know not only how much money was spent on distributing the so-called petition, but we would also find out who has taken how much money to develop and sign this petition”, he added.
Papuashvili claimed the development meant that one former President - in reference to Saakashvili - had “organised the fake campaign against Georgia”, with another “carrying it out”.
Unfortunately, the current president Salome Zourabichvili does not say anything about it, but it would be interesting to know her opinion. [To know] what she thinks when it has been revealed what a mechanism was involved to discredit Georgia - to blackmail the authorities, including the President herself - in order to release Saakashvili from the prison”, he concluded.
Margvelashvili on Monday responded to the allegations by saying “when dirty lies and misinformation begin, it is not my purpose to comment in depth and with seriousness”.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's European Union Integration Committee, on Monday criticised the alleged involvement of Giorgi Margvelashvili, a former President of the country, in a lobbying effort for raising the topic of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili in international media.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday alleged the existence of an international campaign “orchestrated and funded” for the purpose of promoting and lobbying for interests of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, following the latest disclosure on the United States Department of Justice’s website of activities of a lobbying firm associated with the former official’s lawyers.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Thursday claimed the latest disclosures on the activities of the United States-based law firm lobbying for the release of the imprisoned former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili had “fully exposed” the “hostility” of the former official, the United National Movement opposition party and “their handlers” to “national interests” and Georgia’s European integration.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Wednesday claimed the legal team of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s was working to “create impressions damaging the country's reputation” internationally, after the latest disclosure on the United States Department of Justice’s website of activities of a lobbying firm associated with the former official’s lawyers.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday claimed the latest disclosures on the United States Department of Justice’s website had “directly revealed” the United National Movement opposition party in Georgia was “paying money for [achieving a] sanctioning [of] the country”, and called the development “simply a disaster”.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the documents published on the website of the United States Department of Justice had revealed Evan Elliot, an employee of the United States Embassy in Tbilisi, had been contacted by lobbyists of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday alleged a “Russian-style disinformation campaign” was being used to “discredit the Georgian state” and “blackmail” for release of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili from detention.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Monday said the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili “must not be able to carry out an election campaign in the country” as he would “have to respect the laws, rules and order”.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the Georgian Dream ruling party in the Parliament, on Tuesday claimed opposition leader Mamuka Khazaradze and his party Lelo for Georgia were “lobbying against the country’s interests”.