Ruling party MP: fmr US envoy to Russia should know mentioning Saakashvili with democracy, human rights “absurd”
The MP responded to the piece by claiming it would be “difficult to convince” Georgian citizens the West was “about justice and the rule of law” on the backdrop of such statements. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
Tweet 
Share
Irakli Zarkua, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday responded to an article by Michael McFaul, the former United States Ambassador to Russia, on the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili by saying mentioning the latter in connection to democratic and human rights concerns was “absurd”.
Zarkua commented on the article, published on Wednesday in Washington Post, that said the US President and other leaders should call on the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili to pardon Saakashvili and allow his transfer to a foreign-based medical facility for treatment.
The MP responded to the piece by claiming it would be “difficult to convince” Georgian citizens the West was “about justice and the rule of law” on the backdrop of such statements.
“[I]t is impossible for a diplomat of McFaul's level not to know that it is absurd to mention Saakashvili with democracy, it is impossible to mention Saakashvili with media pluralism [and] [...] democratic processes and human rights”, Zarkua said.
The ruling party MP alleged the article was a part of a lobbyist campaign launched by the former Georgian official’s entourage to facilitate his “escape from justice”.
“We want to join the West because we like the rule of law, [the principle that] it does not matter what your status is - if you do wrong, if you commit a crime, you will be held accountable”, the lawmaker said.
When statements calling for Saakashvili’s release from prison for his past [supposed] democratic merits are made, it is very difficult for us to convince our citizens that the West is about justice and the West is about the rule of law”, Zarkua concluded.
Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021, after his clandestine return to Georgia, and is serving a six-year term for two separate abuse of power cases, with three other cases involving his term pending.
His lawyers and family members have claimed the former president is in “urgent need” of treatment abroad, adding local professionals had been “unable” to make “accurate diagnosis and ensure relevant treatment” for months.
Levan Ioseliani, a member of the Citizens opposition party and the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Wednesday said ensuring release of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili was a goal of the opposition United National Movement party, while other domestic opposition parties were “not motivated by such goals”.
The opposition United National Movement party on Tuesday said it was “regretful” that “some individuals” among its membership were using the topic of an upcoming rally for supporting the imprisoned former President Saakashvili to “cause a split”.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said President Salome Zourabichvili would need to consider her voters’ 2018 rejection of the opposition United National Movement party in deciding whether she would pardon the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Wednesday said the “principal question” on whether she would pardon the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvi would be “answered in time”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday told the media it was “disappointing” that the currently imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s “domestic and foreign allies” tried to obstruct the execution of justice and evade his punishment.
Iago Khvichia, an MP for the Girchi opposition party, on Monday said the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s call for Bill Browder, the author of the Magnitsky List that named Russian officials responsible for the 2009 death of tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in detention for subsequent Western sanctions, to compile a similar list for his alleged mistreatment in detention was “not credible” and rejected claims of Saakashvili’s torture by Georgian authorities.
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”.