Debates

Thursday, 2 February 2023 - Brussels

Situation of the former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili (debate)

  Miriam Lexmann, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Madam President, dear colleagues, the very life of the former President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, is at risk. Games, tricks and delays must stop. This shameful behaviour by the Georgian authorities is in direct contradiction to the government’s stated European aspiration and the very values and principles it entails.

As Members of this House have done on many occasions in the past weeks and months, I once again plead with the Georgian authorities: allow Mikheil Saakashvili to undergo medical treatment abroad without any delay, in accordance with Article 283 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia. Ex—President Saakashvili must not be allowed to die in prison. Georgian authorities bear full responsibility for his health and wellbeing, and will be held accountable should anything happen to him.