44 MEPs call for Saakashvili’s transfer to EU

Forty-four MEPs earlier this week released a letter to Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, president Salome Zourabichvili and the parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili, calling for the transfer of the currently imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili to one of the EU member states, “where he can receive the necessary and appropriate medical care”. 

 

In the letter dated back to July 12, the MEPs emphasized the “significance of universal human values that uphold the dignity of every individual, serving as the foundation of the European Union project”. 

 

“We expect, without reservation, both the EU Member States and candidate countries to demonstrate their unwavering commitment to these shared European values. Any further integration between Georgia and the EU is based on demonstrating an equivalent unwavering commitment to fundamental humanitarian principles, including basic human compassion and the right of every individual to receive proper medical care”, said the letter. 

 

Pointing to the recent circulation of “distressing visual evidence from the online court hearing”, the MEPs claimed the footage had depicted the “rapid and severe deterioration” of Saakashvili’s health. 

 

The Georgian Dream authorities claim the third president has been engaged in “self-harm” since his arrest in 2021 to “escape justice”, refusing to follow doctors’ instructions. 

 

They stressed the May ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which rejected Saakashvili’s transfer abroad on health grounds, had “proved” the claims by his family and the legal team on Saakashvili’s alleged mistreatment while in custody were “fake”.