Jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili will be moved back to prison when doctors issue such a recommendation, said Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze.
In response to the statement of Levan Khabeishvili, the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party Chairman, saying the elections would not be fair without Mikheil Saakashvili’s participation, Rati Bregadze urged the UNM Chair to get better familiarized with the Georgian legislation, taking into account that Mikheil Saakashvili is a Ukrainian citizen and thus has no right to engage in political activities in Georgia.
“How a prisoner should engage in political activities is laughable. This person does not have the right to political activity and political membership in Georgia. This person was a Chief Commander, and Chief Commanders do not go into the service of another country; they do not leave their own country and citizenship because they get a job in another country,” he said.
Speaking about the prisoner’s rights and conditions, the Minister said he could hardly imagine another prisoner enjoying such freedoms and rights as Mikheil Saakashvili, adding that the ex-president has had over 2700 visitors, and highlighting that Georgia was acquitted in the legal dispute Saakashvili vs Georgia.
According to Bregadze, violations of Saakashvili’s human rights were “never confirmed.”
“These are subjective perceptions, and the law in this case speaks of something completely different, that Saakashvili’s rights are protected. It is hard to find a prisoner in any country whose rights are so thoroughly protected,” he said.
