Georgian opposition leader: hundreds held as political prisoners

Secretary General of the United National Movement opposition, Petre Tsiskarishvili, on Monday said that hundreds of people are being held as political prisoners under the current government.

Speaking to the media, he said it was widely known both domestically and among Georgia’s European partners that people had been imprisoned for political reasons.

He said it would be welcome if those he described as being unlawfully detained were granted pardons and released. However, Tsiskarishvili added that the key criteria for Georgia’s alignment with the European Union remained democratic standards, including free and fair elections, an independent judiciary and the protection of human rights.

“These are standards the authorities will not meet,” he said, adding that this was understood by both international partners and political prisoners themselves.

Separately, musician and television host Gia Gachechiladze, known as Utsnobi, used his author programme to urge the authorities to release detainees.

One of those detained, actor Andro Chichinadze, responded by saying he did not seek a presidential pardon, stating that he wanted only an objective ruling from the Court of Appeal.