Pressure grows to pardon ex-President Saakashvili

Demonstrations inside and outside the country. However, the current head of state Zurabišvili is stalling. If Saakashvili does not regain his freedom, the possibility of entering the EU disappears, and precisely the objective of the Georgian Dream ruler is to feed a “nationalist consensus that wants Georgia out of everything.”

Moscow () – Under the motto #FreeMisha In recent days, demonstrations of solidarity with former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili have multiplied in more than 40 cities around the world. The participants demanded that he be released and receive proper treatment abroad, especially after reports circulated that he had been poisoned in prison. The lawsuits call on Georgian President Salome Zurabišvili to grant clemency to her predecessor.

In a briefing Zurabišvili commented: “My answer will come when it should come”, disappointing expectations but not completely closing the door on the possibility of an act of leniency. Many wonder how to get out of this crisis,

Political scientist Kakha Gogolašvili, director of the European research center of the Rondeli Fund in Tbilisi, recalls in an interview that the president has repeated on several occasions that “she will never grant a pardon to the third president of Georgia.” However, during her travels through Europe, many leaders from different countries asked her to reconsider her position. Zurabišvili tried to dodge him by stating that he does not have the necessary powers and that they must first conclude legal proceedings in court. At the same time, “she is well aware that if Saakashvili were to die, all responsibility for her would fall on her, even more than on her Georgian Dream party,” currently in power.

Saakashvili recently wrote a letter of thanks to American financier William Browder, who openly supported him, asking him not to wait until his death to help Georgians compile their own “Magnitsky list.” Browder is known for putting the name of Russian lawyer Sergej Magnitsky – who died in prison in Moscow in 2009 after exposing corruption by Putin’s bureaucrats – to an initiative to support victims of power around the world.

Georgia has long been divided into two irreducible fronts and the figure of the former president is the symbolic reason for the dispute, while Zurabišvili tries to claim the role of arbitrator over the parties. Gogolašvili believes that “in the end the president will decide for the pardon, but with great caution and slowly, waiting for the right moment and trying to obtain the maximum consensus of the population.”

The real issue remains the relationship with Europe, which is “vital for Georgia’s survival and not just for the imprisoned president,” Gogolašvili explains. If the president grants Saakashvili a pardon and manages to get him out of the country and restore him to health, “the European Union would almost certainly turn a blind eye to insufficient responses to the 12 conditions set out to become a candidate.” On the contrary, even if all the demands were met, the Saakashvili issue would still be an insurmountable stumbling block to getting the desired result.

The EU Parliament long ago called for the release of the former Georgian president, which was supported by the vast majority of deputies. In reality, while the demonstrations in favor of Saakashvili were taking place, there was also a concentration of people who opposed the pardon in front of the presidential palace in Tbilisi, and as the political scientist affirms “they are precisely the exponents of that political and social sector that does not want to for Georgia to join the EU.

One of these anti-Europeans seems to be the mayor of the capital, the former soccer player Kakha Kaladze, “who doesn’t care if we enter Europe or not, because he is fine where he is, he can go to any European country, he does not lack fame or money”. The politicians of the Georgian Dream, explains Gogolašvili, prefer to show themselves “above these issues” to feed a “nationalist consensus that wants Georgia out of everything.”

However, the expert invites us to “think about the next generations, our children and grandchildren.” The current one has gone through many difficulties, but it must ensure that the country “is not subjected to continuous threats against its independence and integrity”, otherwise the Republic of Georgia will disappear in the maelstrom of invasions and reciprocal wars between the East and the West.