Press Digest 30.07.2014
Accused Saakashvili and the West’s indifferent reaction
They aim at staining Saakashvili’s reputation on the international stage – Soso Tsintsadze
Who will take the helm of Abkhazia?
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Accused Saakashvili and the West’s indifferent reaction
The Prosecutor’s Office has officially charged Georgia’s ex-President as an offender. Now we must wait for the West’s reaction. Our political experts concede that now everything is in the hands of our prosecutors. If they manage to dig up enough strong evidence against him, if they prove able to “wrap” Saakashvili’s persecution in a “beautiful paper,” if they succeed ensuring the West that their move to institute legal proceedings against him is not politically motivated everything will run smoothly. The first statement regarding this issue has already been released in the West. 5 American senators have already expressed their overt disappointment over our Government’s decision to bring charges against the ex-President. “Walter Street Journal” did not even hold back to define the Georgian authorities move to summon Mr. Saakashvili at the Prosecutor’s Office as vendetta. However, we still find it a bit surprising that the American Political Biggies have not uttered even a single move regarding a political retaliation so far,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.
“As former U.S State Secretary, Matthew Bryza claims, a number of observers in Washington have viewed this process as a political persecution. “ Against this background, the Georgian top officials will find it difficult to make us credit that these charges are founded on the law and not on their desire to take vengeance on Saakashvili,” stated Bryza and remembered those days when he visited Georgia by Condoleezza Rice’s order. In his words, in those days, the U.S. Government was deeply concerned with the fact that the conflict that was sparked in Tbilisi was purely of political nature,” announced Mr. Bryza.
“Mikheil Saakshvili was charged in absentia yesterday. According to information released by the body, the case concerns dispersal of a massive protest that occurred on the 7TH of November 2007, criminal invasion into the “Imedi” TV broadcasting company’s headquarters and illegal appropriation of Arkady Patarkatsishvili’s property. Thus, the ex-President is under threat of imprisonment that will last from 5 to 8 years. The Prosecutor’s Office can urge the Court to sentence him with imprisonment within 24 hours. Whether or not the body will pose this demand to our Courts and whether or not a judge will meet with their demand will become known today. After this, their next step will be to urge Interpol to declare the ex-President wanted,” the article says.
“As the former President’s lawyer, Otar Kakhidze, maintains the Prosecutor’s Office has not come to a final decision in terms of the issue yet. As for Lawyer, Giga Oniani, he claims that searching Saakashvili via Interpol is an impracticable task because of the fact that charges against him are weak. However, other experts unanimously admit that if they sentence him to imprisonment, there is not even a shadow of doubt that he will be declared wanted via Interpol but they cast doubt on the fact in this way the Government will get hold of Saakashvili. As per them, not even a single European country would search its former leader via Interpol and on top of that they are absolutely sure that at least two countries – the USA and Ukraine – will grant him a political asylum,” writes the author of the article.
"According to lawyer Gela Nikolaishvili, if this or that country refuses to grant Mikheil Saakshvili a political asylum, he will unquestionably be extradited back to Georgia; although in his words, Saakashvili will not stay in a country which will help our authorities in getting hold of him… “If Georgia’s top officials declare him guilty, Interpol will by all odds meet their requirement and declare him wanted as this organization has certain obligations that it cannot shirk... However, at least two countries the denizen of which Saakashvili is for this moment will undoubtedly grant him a political asylum,” asserts Mr. Nikolaishvili.
“Member of World Lawyers, Association, Mindia Ugrekhelidze, does not find it difficult to declare the ex-President wanted via Interpol. “You will easily come across the instances of extraditing one high official back to his country from other state on several International Tribunal web-pages. This is nothing new. The post of High Executive cannot allow you to enjoy immunity from punishment if you are a criminal and if they hold enough evidence against you. As for the U.S. Senators’ words, we must not give a great importance to them. They are not politicians; they are representatives of different parties; their statement is partial and biased, and personally I don’t pay even slightest attention to it; I have found this statement amusing though,” states Mr. Ugrekhelidze.
They aim at staining Saakashvili’s reputation on the international stage – Soso Tsintsadze
"Neither the Europe nor the American officials have ever released statements saying that they subjected Milosevic, Berlusconi or Fujimori to political persecution,” states Soso Tsintsadze in his interview with the Rezonansi gazette.”
“I cannot really name all Presidents against whom legal proceedings were instituted; however, earlier neither Europe nor the U.S. has ever issued statements as per which Milosevic, Berlusconi or Fujimori were the victims of political retaliation. We must keep in mind that the investigation has not been wrapped up yet. The foreign specialists have recently entered our country. However, I am rather skeptical regarding the effectiveness of their efforts as European investigators, as a rule, study the case thoroughly; they need to question hundreds and even thousands of witnesses; and we will need to translate the witnesses’ testimonies and deal with other technical difficulties; and this will undoubtedly take time,” declares political expert Soso Tsintsadze.
“As for the step taken by our Government, as it appears, by bringing charges against our ex-President, they aim at fixing indelible blots to his reputation on the international scene. By doing this, they must also be willing to undermine his future political prospects. At this point in time, it is a bit difficult to say whether or not this task in realizable. Look at the present Status Quo for a while – the West views Saakashvili as the most ardent and passionate fighter against Putin, as a reformer politician who ruled Georgia in hard times. Thus, he could not have been ensured from making serious mistakes …,” maintains Mr. Tsintsadze.
“As for seeking him out via Interpol, not to say anything regarding America, some European countries, including Ukraine, will easily give him political asylum. Hence, rushing at conclusions in this state of affairs is a bit hasty move,” says the respondent.
“As for the Present Government’s accomplishments in the international arena, they are by all odds palpable; the culminating point of their achievements is the EU pact. However, if I were in the Minister’s shoes, I would restrain from boasting as nothing particularly substantial has changed in this direction for the better. They have only stopped talking with Russia tough and have adopted not very effective measures to mend ties with this country,” concludes the respondent.
Who will take the helm of Abkhazia?
"Leader of the opposition, Raul Khajimba, interim defense Minister, Merab Kishmaria, de-facto Interior Minsiter, Leonid Dzapshba and de-facto Security Council Head, Aslan Abzhania will vie for the post of Abkhazia’s de-facto President. Former Vice-President, Beslan Eshba, has also expressed his desire to run for President; however, he failed to meet one of their key requirements of being fluent in the Abkhazian language which is why he was not registered as a presidential candidate,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.
“Khajimba and Dzashba have proven to be strongly determined to deal with such paramount issues as Georgian residents of Gali as well as the railway line earlier then others. As Dzashba declared in his interview with the Caucasus Time, he will undoubtedly close Abkhazia’s border to the Georgian citizens. “As for the railway line, we alone will not prove able to restore it in the immediate future, but why can we not fulfill this task through Russia? Will it be inauspicious for anyone, if our budget will be replenished? That is the reason why we must not keep isolating ourselves from the entire world. The railway line is of vital importance for us,” stated Leonid Dzashba.
“The Russian side seeks to draw Abkhazia into its orbit. However, Abkhazia is a sovereign state, and this issue must not become a subject of hot discussions. As for our relations with Russia, we feel ourselves comfortable with this country, and we do openly talk regarding our desire to broaden our relations with it. Although we have never expressed readiness to refuse our sovereignty and let Russian annex Abkhazia,” maintains Mr. Khajimba.
“As for their move to strip 20,000 Georgian residents of Abkhazia of their Abkhazian passports Mr. Khajimba does not think that by taking this step they have breached their rights. “We have toed the line and acted accordingly. Georgian citizens are not entitled to possess dual citizenship; their own law says this. And these people are obliged to abide by their law first of all. As for us, we have obeyed our own law as per which a person cannot hold Abkhazian citizenship if he/she is not a permanent resident of Russia,” states Mr. Khajimba.
“Caucasian House” Director, Giorgi Knashvili, thinks that Raul Khajimba stands the greatest chance of winning in the presidential elections. “If we take the events that preceded Anakvabi’s ouster into consideration, we will easily conclude that Raul Khajimba has the greatest chance of taking up the reins of Abkhazia,” maintains Mr. Kanashvili.
