MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation of the former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili
8.2.2023 - (2023/2543(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 132(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Urmas Paet, Petras Auštrevičius, Malik Azmani, Nicola Beer, Vlad Gheorghe, Bernard Guetta, Karin Karlsbro, Moritz Körner, Nathalie Loiseau, Javier Nart, Nicolae Ştefănuță
on behalf of the Renew Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0106/2023
B9‑0109/2023
European Parliament resolution on the situation of the former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Georgia, in particular that of 9 June 2022 on violations of media freedom and the safety of journalists in Georgia[1] and of 14 December 2022 on the implementation of the EU Association Agreement with Georgia[2],
– having regard to the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Georgia, of the other part[3],
– having regard to the Commission communication of 17 June 2022 entitled ‘Commission Opinion on Georgia’s application for membership of the European Union’ (COM(2022)0405),
– having regard to Resolution 2463 (2022) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of 13 October 2022 entitled ‘Further escalation in the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine’,
– having regard to the statements of 14 December 2022 entitled ‘The government should bear responsibility for Mikheil Saakashvili’s health condition’ and of 2 February 2023 entitled ‘Statement regarding the trial of Mikheil Saakashvili’, signed by many key Georgian civil society organisations,
– having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested in October 2021 upon his return to Georgia from exile;
B. whereas in 2018, he was sentenced in absentia by a Georgian court to a six-year prison term on abuse of power charges; whereas many human rights organisations see the charges against him as politically motivated and Mikheil Saakashvili as a victim of ‘political revenge’ and ‘selective justice’, as Amnesty International declared in November 2021;
C. whereas since his imprisonment, Mikheil Saakashvili’s health has deteriorated significantly; whereas in May 2022, as a result of his deteriorating health, he was transferred to a civilian clinic, but his health has continued to deteriorate since then; whereas according to recent medical reports, he is still not receiving proper care, which raises fears for his life;
D. whereas a toxicology report by Dr David E. Smith, M.D. & Associates concluded that tests on hair and nail samples from Mikheil Saakashvili had revealed the presence of heavy metals and other agents, and that many of the pathological symptoms displayed by Mikheil Saakashvili were the result of heavy metal poisoning, contributing to his rapidly declining health;
E. whereas on 1 December 2022, Empathy Centre, a Georgian anti-torture non-governmental organisation, released a medical report on Mikheil Saakashvili’s health status based on a medical examination conducted by a commission made up of 10 Georgian and 6 international experts; whereas the report diagnosed Mikheil Saakashvili with more than 20 disorders – 10 of them serious – and stated that Saakashvili’s condition was incompatible with imprisonment; whereas the report stated that certain conditions would cause irreversible deterioration in health, reduced life expectancy and even death if Saakashvili were not given adequate treatment;
F. whereas during his term in office (2004-2013), President Saakashvili and his team put some of the most sweeping administrative and economic reforms in the world into effect; whereas after his second term as president, Mikheil Saakashvili presided over the transfer of power through peaceful elections;
G. whereas according to the December 2022 conclusions of the Special Council of the Public Defender of Georgia, owing to Mikheil Saakashvili’s health status, there are grounds for deferring the carrying out of his sentence;
H. whereas Resolution 2463 (2022) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe deems Mikheil Saakashvili to be a political prisoner and calls for a review of his case and for his release;
I. whereas the Georgian authorities have so far rejected the many public calls to release Mikheil Saakashvili and allow him to receive medical treatment abroad, both from inside Georgia and from many of Georgia’s international partners; whereas on several occasions, high-ranking officials of Georgia’s ruling party have made cynical and outrageous statements about former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s health and situation;
1. Expresses grave concern about the health status of former President Mikheil Saakashvili and the treatment he has received while in custody; considers that the treatment that former President Mikheil Saakashvili has received so far is unacceptable for a country that wants to join the European Union and runs counter to the course the Georgian Government has set for joining the EU;
2. Reminds the Georgian authorities that they have a legal responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of Mikheil Saakashvili, to provide him with adequate medical treatment and to respect his fundamental rights in line with Georgia’s constitution and international commitments;
3. Reiterates its call on the Georgian authorities to release former President Mikheil Saakashvili and allow him to receive proper medical treatment abroad on humanitarian grounds and as a way of reducing political polarisation;
4. Invites the President of Georgia to reconsider her position and use her constitutional powers to resolve this issue;
5. Calls for EU leaders to become more actively involved in securing the release of former President Mikheil Saakashvili and enabling him to receive proper medical treatment abroad;
6. Underlines the fact that the continuing failure to improve the situation of former President Mikheil Saakashvili will continue to damage Georgia’s reputation and will significantly hamper the country’s efforts to advance on the path towards EU membership; is of the opinion that Mikheil Saakashvili’s death in custody would be a blow to Georgian democracy and to Georgia’s international reputation;
7. Calls on the European External Action Service and the Commission to continue to systematically monitor Mikheil Saakashvili’s court hearings, both those on the charges brought against him and those on his request to be transferred abroad;
8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the President, Government and Parliament of Georgia.
- [1] OJ C 493, 27.12.2022, p. 104.
- [2] Texts adopted, P9_TA(2022)0442.
- [3] OJ L 261, 30.8.2014, p. 4.