Ruling Party Accuses UNM of Treason in 2008 War, Threatens Legal Consequences After Elections

On August 7, the anniversary date of Russia-Georgia 2008 war, the Political Council of the ruling Georgian Dream party made a statement accusing the opposition UNM, which was in power at the time of the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008, of “hypocritical PR campaign” around the war, and blamed it for “treacherous crimes” resulting in the “worst consequences.”

“Until now, we have been talking about the crime committed by the National Movement in 2008 only with hints, which had its own objective reasons. As it is known, for years there have been international court cases in Strasbourg and The Hague, which, with the greatest efforts of our government, have ended with the victory of Georgia. And now, when even the theoretical risk of Georgia, the Georgian army and even a single Georgian soldier being held accountable at the international level has passed, the time has come for the public to learn the full truth and all the facts to be given the comprehensive legal assessment,” the statement reads.

“The treasonous crime of the National Movement had the worst consequences. As a result of the 2008 war, we lost two historic regions, hundreds of soldiers and civilians were killed, and 30,000 people were displaced. It is unacceptable for a crime of this magnitude to go unpunished without a legal assessment,” the ruling party says.

The ruling party claims the UNM is trying to change the war commemoration date from August 8 to August 7 because it “is trying to hide its crime and escape the responsibility.”

Among other things, the ruling party also mentions the “signing of the resolution” of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on October 2, 2008 by the then ruling UNM, calling it “one of the most treacherous steps in the history of Georgia”. “The resolution stated that the escalation turned into open and full-scale military action with the Georgian side’s unannounced bombing of Tskhinvali on August 7. The resolution assessed this act as a disproportionate use of force by the Georgian side, which violated international humanitarian law and Georgia’s commitment to the peaceful settlement of the conflict. In the same document, Russia’s military intervention was assessed as a “counter-offensive”. Thus, two months after the war, in the first official international document, the National Movement signed the confirmation of its gravest crime, and with this step it put the Georgian army, the Georgian military and the country at great risk before the international courts,” the Georgian Dream claims.

The Georgian Dream goes on to say that ” National Movement has committed many crimes against the country and people, but the biggest and most serious crime is the adventure committed in 2008.” The statement reads: “In order to ensure the irreversible development of the country and establish long-term peace in Georgia, it is of the utmost importance that these events be given a proper legal assessment. We promise the public that this will definitely happen after the elections.”

The ruling party re-iterates the accusation against the UNM of trying to drag Georgia into the war in Ukraine. “This circumstance once again strengthened the belief that in 2008, these people deliberately organized the worst provocation and carried out the anti-state task received from outside in a completely deliberate manner. Who gave this order and whose tasks were carried out by the highest officials of the government at that time, we will not deliberately go into this issue here, because the public legal process will find out everything. We will be the plaintiff party in this process, and the National Movement will have to take collective responsibility for the treacherous crime committed against the country and the people,” the Georgian Dream statement concludes. It ends with: “We emphasize here that all this does not diminish the crimes committed by Russia, nor the fact that the Russian Federation is responsible for the occupation of the territories of our country.”

Also Read:

• 07/08/2024 – Politicians’ Remarks on 2008 Russian Invasion Anniversary
• 07/08/2024 – 16th Anniversary of Russia-Georgia 2008 War -International Reactions

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