Prosecutor General’s Office rejects “disinformation” on alleged links with US sanctioned ex-official

Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office on Tuesday rejected claims by the country’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and figures from the domestic opposition on the body’s alleged links with Otar Partskhaladze, the former Prosecutor General who was sanctioned last week by the United States for “influencing Georgian society and politics for the benefit of Russia”, as “disinformation” 

• Georgian Parliament Speaker says US-sanctioned former Prosecutor General has had “no connection” to Gov’t for 10 years

The body’s comment came following allegations by Saakashvili, who on Tuesday claimed legal cases alleging violations during his time in office had been opened by Partskhaladze, who served in the position in 2013, in the then-newly elected Georgian Dream Government.

In comments about the former official, Georgia’s former President during the United National Movement Government said he had rejected Moscow’s “demands” to appoint its spies” in top positions in Georgia while in office. 

Partskhaladze was sanctioned last week, with the US Department of State alleging Aleksandr Onishchenko, an officer of Russia’s security agency FSB - who has also been sanctioned along with the Georgian former official - had “likely assisted his associate Partskhaladze in obtaining a Russian passport and possibly Russian citizenship”, and added the former Georgian Prosecutor General had “fully taken on a Russian identity and routinely travels to Russia”.

Partskhaladze appeared on the latest list of sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine along with more than 150 other individuals, which means all his assets and interests registered in the US will be blocked.

In its response, the Prosecutor General’s Office said the first charges against Saakashvili had been filed in 2014, when Partskhaladze was no longer in office, and added the validity of the cases had been backed by a council composed of international experts from the United States, United Kingdom and Israel. 

The body stressed the assessments by “highly-qualified” international professionals like Paul Coffey, the former Chief of the US Department of Justice's Organised Crime and Racketeering Section, Moshe Lador, the former Israeli State Prosecutor and Sir Geoffrey Nice, a British barrister and judge who took part in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, had evaluated the evidence provided in the alleged criminal cases involving Saakashvili as “sufficient standard” to initiate criminal prosecution against him. 

The aim of the disinformation campaign is to discredit the body and hinder its normal functioning”, the Prosecutor General’s Office claimed, adding a part of the domestic opposition had been engaged in spreading “fake and misleading” information against the body over the years “without any evidence”. 

Claiming the “campaign” would not affect its activities, the body stressed the country’s State Security Service was looking into the US’ sanctioning of Partskhaladze before offering its “adequate legal assessment” and “effective legal response”.