Deputy head of Georgian Parliament’s European Integration Committee, ruling party MP, Levan Karumidze, has responded to the letter by MEPs on ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, which will be allegedly released with signatures later today. 

Karumidze says in his recent tweet that the MEPs who have signed or will sign the letter, stating that the judiciary is biased in Georgia and Saakashvili must be released, ‘are too far from being friends of Georgia.’ 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We will continue our active engagement with our true friends &amp; partners at the <a href="https://twitter.com/Europarl_EN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Europarl_EN</a> to further build a genuine, western democracy, which is based on real <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/European?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#European</a> values. We believe that the rule of law is the essence of western civilization. Thank you and good bye. 2/2</p>&mdash; Levan Karumidze (@KarumidzeL) <a href="https://twitter.com/KarumidzeL/status/1448791017637941248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I do not know yet which MEPs fell for this letter. I hate to say it, but those who did are too far from being friends of Georgia. The EU needs a strong and resilient partner in this region, not just a weak and useless chunk of territory,” Karumidze said. 

He stated that Georgia and its government will continue active engagement ‘with our true friends and partners at the European Parliament to further build a genuine, western democracy, which is based on real European values,” Karumidze stated, adding ‘we believe that the rule of law is the essence of western civilization.’ 

The opposition-minded TV channel Formula and the opposition affiliated civic movement Shame have released MEPs letter yesterday, stating that it will be officially released today. 
Formula said that MEP Anna Fotyga initiated the letter. 

Saakashvili, who is a citizen of Ukraine and chairs the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian National Reforms Council, wishes to be released from prison before Georgian municipal  election run-offs on October 30. The former president was convicted in Georgia in absentia in 2018 and was sentenced to six years in prison for abuse of authority. 

He has also been charged with four other offences related to the illegal seizure of property, embezzlement, illegal rally dispersal, and illegal border-crossing.

Saakashvili claims he returned after eight years in political exile to help his UNM party to replace the Georgian Dream government.