“Georgian state cannot cooperate with people who do not recognize this state as a state due to political bias in favor of criminals,” said Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Irakli Kobakhidze in a statement released in the social network.
“One of the main problems of the Georgian political system is the constant attempt to politicize the judiciary, in which, unfortunately, along with the radical part of the opposition and its affiliated media outlets and non-governmental organizations, foreign lobbyists of the radical opposition are involved, some of whom have political status.
The clearest manifestation of the politicization of justice was their efforts to release three criminals in 2020-21 – Gigi Ugulava, Nikanor Melia and Giorgi Rurua. Everyone sees that today these criminals, together with the main culprit Mikheil Saakashvili, play the most active role in polarization, which harms the interests of the Georgian state and society. The direct responsibility for all this, along with the radical opposition, naturally lies with all those who actively demanded the release of the criminals.
The vast majority of our foreign partners make proper assessment of the current events in Georgia and have an objective attitude, on the one hand, towards the Georgian statehood and government, and, on the other hand, towards Mikheil Saakashvili and the National Movement. Most of them admit that Mikheil Saakashvili is justly serving his sentence.
We often hear sincere criticism and remarks from our friends. Such criticism is very valuable to us and we appreciate it. Based on the information provided by us, our partners, true friends of Georgia, have often changed their initial position, which confirms their sincerity. However, there are a small number of foreign politicians who do not stubbornly change their position and continue the lobbying of the National Movement without any argument.
Since the case of Saakashvili is the most relevant in this regard today, I will touch on this topic in detail. In particular, a few simple questions need to be answered: When a top government official physically assaults an MP and defends the young man’s killers by abusing his power, should he be punished for these actions (these are the two official charges for which Saakashvili was sentenced to 6 years in prison; the Strasbourg Court also confirmed Saakashvili’s guilt in Girgvliani’s case)? The answer to this question is simple: if Georgia is a state and the rule of law is valuable to it – yes.
When a person convicted of these crimes crosses the Georgian border illegally, should he be arrested immediately? The answer to this question is simple: if Georgia is a state and the rule of law is valuable to it – yes.
When a convict goes on a hunger strike without any grounds and demands his release, should his request be satisfied? The answer is simple: if Georgia is a state and the rule of law is valuable to it – no.
When a convict request to be taken to a civilian clinic in order to allow his accomplices to get him out of prison, should the authorities comply with the request? The answer is simple: if Georgia is a state – no.
When a convict refuses to be transferred from one penitentiary institution to another facility equipped with a clinic, should the state use coercive proportional measures to transfer the convict? The answer in this case is simple: if Georgia is a state – yes.
And finally, when the convict’s accomplices categorically demand that the footage of his transfer be made public, even though they themselves know that the footage will not be pleasant to watch, and when they spread a lot of lies and speculation about the publication of the footage, should the state share full information about the truth with the public? The answer to this question is simple – if Georgia is a state that realizes its responsibility not to allow anyone to mislead the public – yes”, reads Irakli Kobakhidze’s statement.
According to the GD Chair, everything is clear today, if Georgia is a state, Mikheil Saakashvili should fully serve his sentence and because of his baseless demands, the government should not put the safety of doctors, patients or law enforcement officials at unnecessary risk.
Also Kobakhidze says that one of the MEPs who has been a longtime lobbyist of the United National Movement and lobbied this political force at a time when the Saakashvili regime was killing, raping, robbing businesses, seizing independent media outlets and handing over territories to Russia, called Mikheil Saakashvili a political prisoner.
“We want to ask such people a simple question – do they recognize Georgia as a state? And if so, do they believe that the rule of law is a necessary attribute of the state?” reads the statement.
“In the future, when we evaluate the steps of our foreign partners, we will be guided by the main principle reflected in this letter – the Georgian state cannot cooperate with people who do not recognize this state as a state due to political bias in favor of criminals,” Kobakhidze said.
