“Amendment on Saakashvili undermines European values” – Speaker of Georgian Parliament addresses PACE President

Papuashvili addresses PACE President

In an address to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Tiny Cox Martinus, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili noted that the ruling Georgian Dream party was unable to support the Council of Europe resolution recognizing Russia as a terrorist regime due to the addition of an amendment to the resolution regarding former President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili. The mention of this politician in the resolution changes its whole essence and spirit and “undermines the values ​​of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the organization’s authority in protecting human rights,” Papuashvili declared.

On October 13 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) became the first international institution to declare the Russian government a terrorist organization. Georgia’s ruling party refused to support the document on the pretext that it contains an amendment that would refer to former Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili as a political prisoner. Pro-government Georgian officials stressed several times that they fully share the general spirit of the PACE resolution and would definitely support it if not for the amendment introduced later.

The Assembly demands “consideration and release of political prisoners opposed to President Putin, including citizen of Ukraine and former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili” in the Russian Federation and other countries. During Saakashvili’s presidency, the August 2008 war broke out between Russia and Georgia. Both before and after this war, the Russian authorities repeatedly demonstrated their intransigence towards Saakashvili and his political direction.

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As Papuashvili explains in a letter to PACE, the amendment also contains unfounded criticism of Georgia’s legal system, raises unfounded suspicions about the country in the international arena, and “undermines the progress made by Georgia since 2012 in the areas of human rights and the rule of law.”

Papuashvili addresses PACE President