Saakashvili won’t be released if he really quits politics – ruling party MP

Former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021, will not be released if he really decides to leave politics, Mikheil Sarjveladze, chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Parliament and a member of the ruling party, said Sunday, responding to the claims of Saakashvili’s lawyers that the the third president “has lost interest in politics”. 

“Saakashvili’s departure from politics will not make a big impact on Georgian politics. He thought that his return would have had the impact. However, he [Saakashvili] was mistaken”, Sarjveladze siad. 

The MP also stated that the Georgian authorities have taken the lawyer’s statement as a “trick”. 

Saakashvili’s lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze said on July 29 that the chances of postponing the sentence for the third president of Georgia “have increased”. 

“The chances of [postponing the sentence] have increased. The authorities are receiving information about his health and my messages. Saakashvili, frankly speaking, is no longer interested in Georgian politics. This person has no interest. No, this is hard to believe, but…I expect that he will make this statement himself,” said Khachapuridze.

Mikheil Saakashvili’s teammate and chairman of the United National Movement party, Nika Melia, said that it was part of the lawyers’ strategy that Saakashvili “is no longer interested in politics”.

“Lawyers have their work and they do it better because there are professionals there, but as for Mikheil Saakashvili and the National Movement, Saakashvili is the founder of the party, an integral part of the UNM,” said Melia.

Saakashvili said that he returned to Georgia  after eight years in political exile to help the opposition “change the Georgian Dream authorities via elections”. 

He said that his health “deteriorated much” after being on hunger strike for weeks and has demanded transportation abroad for treatment. 

Saakashvili was sentenced to six years in prison in absentia back in 2018 for abuse of authority.He also faces several other charges.