Marketa Gregorova: There is no big conspiracy such as that we are being paid by National Movement or coerced by Saakashvili, that is nonsense - we care because this is a highly politicized case, and the person is dying in prison
There is no big conspiracy such as that we are being paid by the United National Movement or coerced by Saakashvili. Yes, I've heard that. That is nonsense. We care because we have to care, because this is a highly politicized case, and the person is dying in prison, - European Parliamentarian Marketa Gregorova stated during the debate held in the European Parliament regarding Mikheil Saakashvili's situation.
She urged the Georgian authorities keep in mind not only political points they can gain by keeping Saakashvili in prison, but also the points they are losing.
“Dear colleagues and dear Georgians who are listening - there are far too many challenges ahead of Georgia. The Commission will be now evaluating the 12-point recommendations and how the Georgian authorities were able to fulfill them. At the end of the road there might even be a candidate status waiting for them. Yet we already know that there are some persisting issues. Although we all appreciate attempts at legislation tackling oligarchization, we also hear varying messages from Georgian authorities regarding which personas in the country will be affected by legislation, and some even suggest that the legislation won't really solve the problem. And other issue, of course, is polarization of the political spectrum and consequently society. I have no signals of improvement. May be even on the contrary, the longer there is fighting, the more is being fueled by various disinformation and manipulation.
Why am I talking about it now? Because these are the challenges all of us in this House want to focus on and want to keep focusing on. However, the case of Mikheil Saakashvili is so overwhelming that we cannot look away. It represents everything we are talking about, when we talk about problems and reforms, mistrusting judiciary, polarization, disinformation. There is no big conspiracy such as that we are being paid by UNM or coerced by Saakashvili. Yes, I've heard that. That is nonsense. We care because we have to care, because this is a highly politicized case, and the person is dying in prison.
So I urge the Georgian authorities keep in mind not only political points you can gain by keeping him in prison, but also the points you are losing because we have to have a debate today about the political prisoner instead of, for instance, the candidates status”, said the MEP.
