Parliament Vice Speaker says ex-president Saakashvili will go down in history as “torturer, property racketeer, business oppressor”

Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament and Chair of the Parliament’s Temporary Investigative Commission examining crimes committed by the former United National Movement Government between 2003 and 2012, on Tuesday said the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili would not go down in history as the founder of a modern state but as a torturer who built a mafia state tailored to himself and his family.

In her remarks, Tsulukiani elaborated on the Commission’s upcoming final report, which she said would consolidate in a single document nearly all the misfortunes inflicted upon the country under Saakashvili’s rule.

“This document will go down in history. He [Saakashvili] will be remembered as the man who lost our territories, as the Commander-in-Chief who sacrificed his own soldiers and army”, the Vice Speaker said.

Tsulukiani expressed gratitude to the Georgian Dream party for initiating the Commission, stating that the report would serve as “another verdict” against Saakashvili. She accused him of losing territories, abandoning civilians during the 2008 August war, and oppressing businesses.

“I, along with my fellow fighters, thank Georgian Dream - both as a party and as a political team - for leading the effort to establish this Commission. The report that will be released will serve as yet another verdict for him. If he’s listening, let him know: Saakashvili will not enter history as a unifier, nor as the founder of the modern Georgian state. Based on this report, which outlines in one document all the tragedies executed on his orders – tragedies that affected nearly every family in this country - he will be remembered as the one who lost territories, who left civilians in war zones during the August War, who abandoned and sacrificed his army”, Tsulukiani continued.

She further added that Saakashvili would go down in history as a property racketeer and a business oppressor.