“The opinion of those who call Mikheil Saakashvili a political prisoner is worth nothing to Georgia,” stated Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, to journalists, responding to the planned debates at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which, among other issues, address “politically motivated persecution against opposition parties and their leaders.”
According to Papuashvili, “such projects are politically motivated.”
“Regarding the constitutional lawsuit related to the ‘National Movement,’ what do they want? Is Europe about calling a poisoner a politician? Let me remind you, this is the same PACE that passed a resolution calling Mikheil Saakashvili a political prisoner. Their moral standards are far lower than those of Georgian statehood and Georgian values. Therefore, we certainly cannot stoop to the moral standards that involve referring to Mikheil Saakashvili as a political prisoner, as PACE once dared to do. The reason is simple: PACE is a collection of parliamentarians from various countries, and we see what kind of parliamentarians they are. For instance, on November 11, 2024, a week after the elections, we had representatives from several countries’ foreign affairs committees here, including the chair of Sweden’s committee, who called on people to go to ‘Maidan,’ essentially inciting violence and slaughter. Accordingly, these people are represented in PACE, and unfortunately, PACE is being used as a tool to achieve their political intrigues, making such projects politically motivated. As for the draft itself, I reviewed it, and it consists of a few paragraphs. Every paragraph is a lie. Doesn’t that require some skill? We could go through it paragraph by paragraph, and every single one is not just manipulation but outright lies. Ultimately, this is why we are in this situation—because, unfortunately, for some, there are no longer any standards of values, only political goals, and they tailor such texts to those political goals.
The Georgian Parliament conducted a parliamentary investigation regarding the ‘National Movement’ regime, which every citizen has experienced firsthand, knowing what that regime meant. Accordingly, this is being reviewed by the Constitutional Court, which will make its decision. When there is a politically motivated lawsuit against the ‘National Movement’ from people who, through a PACE resolution, call Mikheil Saakashvili a political prisoner, such points naturally have no value for us. The opinion of those who call Mikheil Saakashvili a political prisoner is worth nothing to Georgia. These people have been defeated many times, including in international courts regarding Georgia. These papers hold no weight for the Georgian people,” Papuashvili stated.
For reference, debates on Georgia will be held at the Council of Europe. According to information published on the organization’s website, PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs for Georgia, Edite Estrela (Portugal, Socialists, Democrats, and Greens Group) and Sabina Cudic (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe), will present a resolution titled: “Support for Democracy and the Rule of Law in Georgia.” The draft resolution text notes that the Assembly is deeply concerned that the Georgian authorities systematically ignore its concerns and recommendations regarding the democratic crisis in Georgia, which are shared by the international community.
“The Assembly condemns the Georgian authorities’ increasingly isolationist policies and antagonistic relations with European organizations and their member states. It also condemns the baseless attacks and unfounded, damaging accusations against members of the international community in Georgia, which have multiplied in recent months,” the draft resolution states.
Shalva Papuashvili on the PACE Resolution Draft: Every paragraph is a lie – doesn’t that require some skill? Their moral standards are far lower than those of Georgian statehood – The opinion of those who call Saakashvili a political prisoner is worth nothing
