“I did not decline; I don’t make comments on pardon unless I’m saying I am pardoning someone,” stated Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili in an interview with Radio Liberty.
News
Trending stories
- 1 Ship Captain Suspected of Baltic Sea Cable Damage is Georgian Citizen
- 2 12 Found Dead in Bedroom of Indian Restaurant in Gudauri
- 3 British Parliament Discusses Launching Investigation Into Imedi TV
- 4 Former Senior Official of Georgian Special Task Department Speaks in Interview Before Leaving Country
- 5 Kavelashvili Claims Georgia's European Integration Process Continues
- 6 "More Must Still Be Sone": Senator Risch on Sanctioning Ivanishvili and Kavelashvili's Presidency
“That is not related to the fact that he has a huge role in launching the Georgian path [towards European integration], and not only himself, but Shevadnadze had a huge role as well; He was the first one to open the gate. Also, the late Zurab Zhvania, whose 60th birthday was celebrated a few days ago, had an immense role. Everybody remembers that he was the first to say ‘I am Georgian, therefore European’. All of these persons, all of these governments and administrations had their role,” said Zourabichvili.
Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested on October 1, 2021, in Tbilisi. A few hours later, Zourabichvili pledged that she would never pardon Saakashvili.
“Many are asking today: is the president going to pardon him? The answer is a resounding – no and never! Because I will never forget Irina Enukidze’s eyes, along with many others who hopelessly awaited justice they never got,” explained the President.
On November 3, 2021, Salome Zourabichvili reiterated once again that her position on Saakashvili pardoning remains unchanged.
Mikheil Saakashvili was sentenced to 6 years in prison for wrongfully pardoning those convicted in the cases of beating MP Valery Gelashvili and Sandro Girgvliani murder.
Due to health decline, Saakashvili has been placed in the Vivamed clinic, a contractor of the Special Penitentiary Service since May 12, 2022.
The third president of Georgia is also charged with border trespassing, raiding the Imedi TV and November 7 protest, illegally seizing and appropriating Patarkatsishvili’s property, and embezzling 9,024,367 GEL belonging to the Special State Protection Service. The former president pleads not guilty and says that he is politically persecuted and a prisoner of Putin.
