Georgian Parliament Speaker echoes Marco Rubio in criticism of Amnesty International

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday accused Amnesty International of taking part in a foreign disinformation campaign aimed at securing the release of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, claiming that the effort had failed and caused lasting damage to the organisation’s reputation.

Papuashvili made the remarks in response to the US Secretary of State’s description of Amnesty International as a fraudulent organisation.

He argued that the organisation’s involvement in efforts to secure Saakashvili’s release on health grounds had exposed its conduct as early as 2023.

“The fact that Amnesty International had embarked on a path of fraud became evident as early as 2023, when it joined a foreign disinformation campaign aimed at saving Saakashvili from his just punishment”, Papuashvili said.

The Parliament Speaker claimed that, just weeks after Amnesty International issued a statement concerning Saakashvili, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg rejected the claims advanced by the organisation and Saakashvili’s foreign supporters.

“Just a few weeks after the defamatory statement by Amnesty International quoted below, the Strasbourg Court established that the claims made by the organisation, as well as by Saakashvili’s foreign patrons, were fraudulent lies. According to the Strasbourg ruling, Saakashvili not only did not need to be released on health grounds, but there was no need even to transfer him to another hospital”, he noted.

Papuashvili concluded that the attempt to shield Saakashvili from justice through deception had failed, while Amnesty International had, in his view, sustained lasting reputational damage.

“Shortly after this shameful fraud, the world learnt that the dying dictator had miraculously stopped dying, overcome cachexia, recovered from dementia and had a child. The operation to shield Saakashvili from justice through deception failed, while Amnesty International established a reputation as a fraudster that will endure for a long time”, Papuashvili concluded.