"Saakashvili cannot be amnestied" - Irakli Kobakhidze

Head of GD on Saakashvili

An amnesty law specifically for Saakashvili cannot be passed by the Georgian parliament, Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said.

According to him, amnesty is a law that applies to an abstract circle of people, and this law cannot be adapted to one specific person. Therefore “we will abide by this principle to the end,” Kobakhidze said.

He noted that all 9,000 prisoners, including ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, to a certain extent elicit sympathy. However, the release of 9,000 prisoners on humanitarian grounds is impossible.

“No prisoner has embittered so many people as Saakashvili has done during and after his presidency,” Kobakhidze said.

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Family members and lawyers of the third president asked for a postponement or pardon for Saakashvili on health grounds and filed a petition with the court, which was rejected. Judge Giorgi Arevadze announced the decision at the final session of the Tbilisi City Court.

The main opposition party of Georgia, the United National Movement, announced that it would protest.

“Officials from the Georgian Dream will not rest [until he is dead],” UNM chairman Levan Khabeishvili said. After meeting with party leaders, he talked about plans for the future and said the United National Movement would no longer participate in the work of parliament, but would begin street rallies and protests near the homes of members of Georgian Dream.