TBILISI, September 27 – Transparency International Georgia (TIG) says it will add jailed former president Mikheil Saakashvili to its list of political prisoners.
The watchdog group announced its decision on Friday after reviewing case materials supplied by Saakashvili’s lawyer in July. The materials covered the so-called “jackets case”, his illegal border-crossing case and proceedings connected with Imedi TV.
TIG said it considered Saakashvili’s conviction in the jackets case unjustified and unfair, and described ongoing proceedings against him as politically motivated. It said he met four of the five criteria for a political prisoner set out in Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Resolution 1900 of 2012.
The organization focused particularly on Saakashvili’s nine-year sentence in the jackets case, arguing that the criminal provision used against him had been interpreted too broadly and that the punishment was disproportionate. It said the overall pattern of prosecutions pointed to an effort to keep the former president politically sidelined for a prolonged period.
Saakashvili has faced six criminal cases, four of which have ended in convictions. His current combined prison sentence is 12 years and six months, calculated from his arrest on October 1, 2021.
Several of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s officials commented on TIG’s announcement. On Saturday, MP Levan Machavariani said Saakashvili was not a political prisoner and suggested the organization had changed its position after coming under pressure from him. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accused TIG of political bias and defended the jackets case as involving misuse of state budget funds. Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili claimed the decision was part of a campaign to secure Saakashvili’s release and called for scrutiny of TIG’s funding.
Saakashvili’s United National Movement welcomed the decision on Sunday. Irakli Pavlenishvili, chairman of the party’s governing council, said “better late than never,” but criticized NGOs for previously declining to classify Saakashvili as a political prisoner.
Transparency International Georgia is a Tbilisi-based, foreign-funded anti-corruption and advocacy group, and the Georgian chapter of the global Transparency International network.
