Georgian PM claims CoE Resolution, Tagliavini Report over 2008 war “direct evidence” of UNM Govt’s “betrayal” of country

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday said the 2008 resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia and the Heidi Tagliavini Report on the conflict were “direct evidence” of “betrayal” committed by the “authoritarian regime” of the United National Movement and the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili against the country.

Kobakhidze was making the comment following statements by the ruling Georgian Dream party of intentions for holding a “public legal process” for investigating developments in the run-up to the five-day war following the parliamentary elections planned for October.

The PM was asked by the press about the stated intent and whether the resolution and the Tagliavini Report of an international investigative commission tasked with finding facts around the conflict, would be submitted as evidence to the court.

These documents are direct evidence, though it is important to examine other evidence beyond that. The United National Movement party directly signed the resolution of the Council of Europe on the war and recognised the start of the war”, Kobakhidze said.

The CoE resolution, signed by the then-in power United National Movement Government, said “the initiation of shelling of [the city of] Tskhinvali [in the now-Russian-occupied region] without warning by the Georgian military, on 7 August 2008, marked a new level of escalation, namely that of open and fully fledged warfare. The use of heavy weapons and cluster munitions, creating grave risks for civilians, constituted a disproportionate use of armed force by Georgia, albeit within its own territory, and as such a violation of international humanitarian law and Georgia’s commitment to resolve the conflict peacefully”.

The Government head also said it was “fundamentally important” to “put this political force on trial” to ensure the “country can rest once and for all, and not be in a constant mode of revolutions”.

“Therefore, this is our very principled decision, which will be implemented after the elections”, he told the media, adding “the guilt of Saakashvili’s regime in no way excludes the guilt of Russia” in its invasion of the country and the subsequent occupation of two of its regions.