We would like to respond to the statement of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia according to which the former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili was summoned for interrogation as a witness in several cases. Of course, every citizen of Georgia, including the former President, is equal before the law and is obliged to cooperate with the investigation if necessary. However, due to the particularly high interest of the public, this process must proceed with maximum transparency and openness. It is important to rule out any doubts that a political persecution is taking place, which would cause significant damage to the country’s image.
At this stage, there are several circumstances that may cast a significant shadow on the objectivity of the investigation. We think that the Prosecutor’s Office should provide the public with more information on why the need to interrogate Mikheil Saakashvili arose at this particular moment and how it happened that it became necessary to interrogate him on several cases at once.
We think that, in this case, it is important to take into account both the domestic and external contexts. Georgia, as well as the entire region, is facing particular external threats. In a situation where the leadership of the EU has announced the acceleration of the signing of the association agreement with Georgia, on the one hand, and a statement has been made on new approaches to the process of NATO expansion, one the other hand, it is important to ensure that the strategic partners of Georgia do not perceive the summoning of the former president as a politically motivated act of the authorities and that this fact does not reflect negatively on the process of Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration.
Summoning of the country’s former president for interrogation can also be considered in the pre-election context. The Prosecutor’s Office should explain why it became necessary to summon the former president for interrogation several months before the local self-government elections. We think that taking procedural measures against representatives of the opposition and former officials in the pre-election period is going to exert a negative influence on free and fair electoral process. We think that the investigatory bodies should refrain as much as possible from similar acts against leaders and activists of political parties, as they did at the time of last years’ elections. The aforementioned will definitely exert a positive influence on the pre-election environment.
Transparency International – Georgia (TI – Georgia)
Civil Development Agency (CiDA)
International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI)
