Tuesday, August 12 2014

 

Tbilisi. Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili,
explains the U.S. Senators' concern over brining to criminal
responsibility  former members  of the Georgian government by their
friendship with ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, a leader of the former ruling
party United National Movement.

Last Thursday, the Georgian magazine
Tabula published a letter to Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Ghribashvili from
the U.S. Senators John McCain, Jeanne Shaheen, Jim Risch and Marco Rubio, in
which the Senators expressed concern over the last events in Georgia. The
Administration of the Government received the letter  on August 1, but  it did not publish it.

In the letter, the U.S Senators
congratulate the Prime Minister on Georgia's signature and ratification of the
Associated Agreement with the EU, and note that this is an important step in
Georgia's development as a democratic nations. Their reiterate their support to
Georgian people and their aspiration to become full members of the
Euro-Atlantic community.

At the same time, the U.S. Senators
express their concern over several developments in the country. As they write
in the letter, "there were a number of reports the government officials
pressured opposition candidates to withdraw and that the incidents of electoral
violence received very limited responses from the government".     

The Senators draw attention to arrest of
political opponents, including head of the election headquarters of the former
ruling party United National Movement Gigi Ugulava during announced -pre-election
moratorium. In connection with this, the U.S. Senators do not exclude political
prosecution, "the most recent and highest profile example of this is the
filing of charges against former President Mikheil Saakashvili and six members
of his government on July 28, 2014", reads the letter. 

"I do not know why such hype has been
raised as if a certain secret is disclosed or 
I concealed something. I have never concealed anything and will not do
it in future, this is style of our work. The Senators have written a personal
letter to me, I receive many such letters and it is not ethic to publish them.
Possible, the Senators did not consider 
it was expedient to publish their letter. If they considered it was
necessary, they would publish it", Gharibashvili told journalists at the
end of last week.  He noted that U.S.
Senators' support for Saakashvili was connected with "friendly
obligations".

"I explain it very simply: this is a
certain club of Saakashvili's friends, who have certain friendly obligations
and they express their support. Regretfully, they were unaware of terrible
events, that took place in Georgia during many years", the Premier
stressed and added that he had responded to the Senators' letter and inducted
them. 

Saakashvili has been brought charges of
involvement in two criminal cases - beating member of the Parliament of
Georgia  in 2005 and  dispersal of the opposition's peaceful
protest rally in November 2007; raid against Imedi TV and forceful seizure of
late business tycoon, Badri Patarkatsishvili's property. In both cases he faces
charges of official power abuse.