The European Court of Human Rights has not found a violation of the articles of the Convention in the case Saakashvili v. Georgia. Today's decision pertains to two criminal cases against the former president in Georgia: the 2005 attack on Member of Parliament Valery Gelashvili and the pardon of four former high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs accused of murdering Sandro Girgvliani in 2008. The court stated that there is no reason to doubt the fairness of the criminal proceedings.
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In today's Chamber decision, the European Court unanimously found that there had been no violation of Article 6, Part 1, and Part 3, Subsection D (right to a fair trial/right to be present and cross-examine witnesses) of the European Convention on Human Rights, neither in relation to how the national courts considered the evidence against Saakashvili nor about the alleged lack of independence or impartiality of the judge who tried the second criminal case against him.
By a vote of 5 judges against 2, the court found that there was no violation of Article 7 of the European Convention (no punishment without law). Mikheil Saakashvili argued that he could not have foreseen that he would be held criminally liable for using the pardon power, which, under Georgian law, is the president's absolute right.
“Mr Saakashvili could reasonably have foreseen, in the particular circumstances of the case, that using his power of clemency to pervert the course of justice in a murder case would render him criminally liable under Georgian law,” the European Court considers.
Additionally, the court recognized as inadmissible the complaints of Mikheil Saakashvili regarding the violation of Article 18 of the Convention (scope of application of rights restrictions). According to the court, he did not substantiate his accusation that there was an ulterior motive behind the prosecution against him - to hinder his participation in Georgian politics.
“The backdrop of bitter political antagonism between Mr Saakashvili’s political party and the new ruling forces could not on its own prove that the predominant purpose of the opening of the criminal cases against him had been to hinder his participation in Georgian politics. To the contrary, and bearing in mind in particular the duly reasoned court decisions, the Court found that the authorities’ honest desire had been to bring Mr Saakashvili to justice for his wrongdoings. Even the highest-ranking State official was not, as a matter of principle, immune from prosecution,” the court wrote.
Mikheil Saakashvili has been sentenced to 6 years in prison for pardoning those convicted in the case of beating MP Valery Gelashvili and murdering Sandro Girgvliani. The third president is also accused of the illegal crossing of the border, the raid of the Imedi television company, the November 7 protest rally, the illegal appropriation of Patarkatsishvili's property, and the embezzlement of 9 024 367 GEL belonging to the special state protection service - the so-called "jackets" cases. The third president does not admit guilt and says that he is politically persecuted, a prisoner of Putin.
The ex-president was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, 2021. Since May 12, 2022, due to the deterioration of his health, he has been placed in the Vivamed clinic, a contractor of the special penitentiary service.
