Georgian Parliament Speaker: Western partners turned blind eye to Saakashvili's crimes

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday issued critique of imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s regime, accusing it of relying on torture, corruption, business extortion, and media capture to maintain power, all while some Western partners turned a blind eye.

In a social media post, Papuashvili announced that Georgia was taking decisive steps to address this “painful past” through a parliamentary decree aimed at consolidating the legal assessment of Saakashvili’s autocratic rule and the actions of his United National Movement.

“Georgia is finally taking a decisive step towards consolidating the legal assessment of our country’s painful past, pertaining to the dramatic nine years of Georgia’s autocratic rule from 2003 to 2012, which was orchestrated and led by ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili and his criminal cohort, known as the United National Movement (UNM). Their destructive efforts went beyond 2012, when they formally lost power and metastasised to our present-day political struggles”, Papuashvili said.

“All the things that the Saakashvili regime relied on to seize and keep power, including torture, corruption, business racketeering, media capture, were happening before the eyes of some of our Western partners that chose to turn a blind eye on the regime’s crimes. Suffice to say, the European People’s Party (EPP), to this day, not only honours dictator Saakashvili as their hero but also has the UNM as a member party of their political family”, he continued.

Papuashvili highlighted the ongoing influence of Saakashvili’s allies, noting that figures like Zurab Adeishvili, Gia Lordkipanidze, Eka Tkeshelashvili, Levan Duchidze, and Nona Tsotsoria hold key positions in Ukraine and Moldova, perpetuating what he described as a “subservient judiciary” reminiscent of Saakashvili’s regime.

“The fact that Saakashvili was encouraged by these people who are now trying to save him from his legal detention indicates that the talk about human rights and the rule of law is only a pretext for some in the West to exert political pressure but has little value of its own. Ukraine’s current authorities keep the architects of Saakashvili’s dictatorship in key positions – Zurab Adeishvili in the Prosecutor-General’s office, Gia Lordkipanidze in counter-intelligence service, Eka Tkeshelashvili and Levan Duchidze in leading donor organisations. One of the leading members of the regime – Nona Tsotsoria – is, to this day, vetting judges in Moldova. Only this last fact is enough to understand the purpose of the judicial vetting system: creation of not a genuinely free legal system but rather a construct resembling Saakashvili’s subservient judiciary”, he noted.

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The Speaker detailed the work of the Parliamentary Investigative Commission, which conducted 44 public hearings, heard testimonies from 139 witnesses, and processed 778 applications.

“The work of the Parliamentary Investigative Commission was not desk research. 44 public hearings were held, 139 witnesses gave their testimonies, and 778 applications were made to the Commission. At the public hearings, the entire Georgian society listened to the tragic stories about the murders, torture, business racketeering that were proceeding with the tacit consent of the West”, Papuashvili said.

Papuashvili also accused the UNM of attempting to destabilise the Government post-2012, branding it an “extremist entity” in Georgian politics.

“The other issue is the period after 2012, when the United National Movement, led by Saakashvili, made continuous attempts at deposing the Government, which turned the UNM into an extremist entity in Georgian politics. The Decree below, is a significant step towards closing the tragic chapter of Georgian history and moving on to a consolidated democracy with genuine popular support, based on national interest and the principles of state sovereignty and equality”, Papuashvili concluded.