“Mikheil Saakashvili (jailed ex-president) is a criminal and making any comparisons is not interesting,” said Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili remarking on the question of similarities between Mikheil Saakashvili and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

According to the Speaker, Saakashvili established a “system of torture” in Georgia and he should serve his prison term.

“This is our responsibility to the victims of Mikheil Saakashvili’s regime. Any comparison is pointless. The main focus for us is Mikheil Saakashvili as a criminal. He must serve his prison term,” said Papuashvili.

On the question of why the Georgian government kept silent over Alexei Navalny’s death, Shalva Papuashvili said: “Death of any person is regrettable. I don’t have any other remarks on this topic.”

Russia’s most significant opposition leader for the past decade, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic Circle jail on February 16.

According to the BBC, Navalny was serving 19 years on extremism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated. Navalny was moved to one of Russia’s toughest penal colonies late last year.