European Parliament Adopts Resolution on the Situation of Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on the situation of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The resolution was voted in favor by 577 MEPs and against by 33. In it European Parliament calls on Georgian government to release imprisoned ex-President. Members of Parliament express “grave concern over deteriorating health of former President Mikheil Saakashvili and over inadequate response of Georgian authorities so far”. The resolution states that Saakashvili case is a “litmus test of the Georgian government’s commitment to European values and its declared European aspirations, including EU candidate status”.
MEPs remind the Georgian authorities that they “have responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of the former President, to provide him with adequate medical treatment and to respect his fundamental rights and personal dignity, in line with Georgia’s constitution and international commitments”. The resolution also “invites” the current President of Georgia to use her constitutional right to pardon Mikheil Saakashvili.”
The resolution states that the continuing failure to improve the situation of former President Mikheil Saakashvili “will continue to damage Georgia’s reputation and hamper its European Union candidacy prospects.”
The resolution reiterates its call on the Georgian authorities “to release former President Mikheil Saakashvili and allow him to receive proper medical treatment abroad on humanitarian grounds and as a way of reducing political polarization.”
The European Parliament’s press release on the resolution also states that the resolution emphasizes the ‘fundamental role’ played by the ‘oligarch’ Bidzina Ivanishvili in the arrest of Mikheil Saakashvili as part of his ‘personal revenge’. Therefore, the European Parliament once again calls on the European Council and democratic partners to discuss imposing sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili for his role in the “deterioration of political processes in Georgia”.
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