“To my utter shame, ‘Georgian Transparency International’ did not include me on its list of political prisoners in the fifth year of my captivity,” Georgia’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, wrote on Facebook, responding to information released by Transparency International Georgia stating that there are currently 91 political prisoners in the country.

Saakashvili criticized the organization for failing to include him on the list of relevant prisoners, saying that people consider them “insincere, ineffective grant-eaters.” He also called on “all fair-minded people to give this false ‘Transparency’ the response it deserves — shame on them.”

“In reality, this did not surprise me for a moment. It was precisely the Georgian NGO sector that made a major contribution to discrediting my reformist government and bringing Ivanishvili to power. For all these years, these people have completely shamelessly refused to take any responsibility for this; moreover, to this day they blame me for bringing Ivanishvili to power. Fine, let us assume that for all these years you were turning a blind eye and failed to understand that you had brought a Russian regime to power. But surely the past two years were enough for you to overcome your Saakashvili complex and, even now, acknowledge that the main political prisoner, and the main problem for the regime and Russia, is precisely me?

“These NGOs say that politics must be renewed. For some reason, their leaders have been sitting in senior positions at these organizations for 15–20 years, enjoying their comfortable lives. That is precisely why you have no authority among the people whatsoever. People consider you insincere, ineffective grant-eaters.

“And how is it that the Council of Europe, which you invoke, calls me a political prisoner and Putin’s personal prisoner in numerous resolutions, and the same applies to the European Parliament and Amnesty International, while you do not place me in the same category? You did not raise your voices against the mass political persecution of the opposition from the very first years of the Georgian Dream government; you praised the ‘several waves of judicial reform.’ You did not raise your voices against the violence and mass vote-buying during the 2018 presidential election or the falsification of the 2020 election. Through this very silence, you made a major contribution to the formation of the dictatorship, and, incidentally, to this day you demonstratively avoid using the word ‘dictatorship.’

“Until you acknowledge your own responsibility for the situation that exists today, until you acknowledge your own mistakes — including the criminal mistake you are now making with regard to me, claiming that I am supposedly in captivity for buying jackets and that I am not currently being prosecuted for political statements — you will be unable to play any serious role in Georgia.

“I call on all fair-minded people to give this false ‘Transparency’ the response it deserves. Shame on them!

“P.S. ‘Transparency’ issued a new clarification, saying that we included only those who are imprisoned for statements and participation in rallies on the list of political prisoners. They are lying here as well. I am currently being prosecuted precisely for my statements and for calling on people to participate in rallies in the so-called ‘sabotage case,’ but they deliberately overlooked this. Hopefully, honest NGOs will also emerge and speak out against this injustice,” Saakashvili wrote on social media.

According to an updated report published by the non-governmental organization Transparency International Georgia, there are 91 political prisoners in Georgia. The organization said that the 91 people included on the list meet the criteria for political prisoners established by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The list includes 91 convicted and accused persons who are currently in detention.