Former Prime Minister of Georgia and the ruling Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili Wednesday released a statement, touching on various issues.
Below are the main takeaways:
Ivanishvili claims amid the challenging political situation in the region, Georgia and the ruling team have been facing “very painful processes” in the past months. ” Those longing for dragging Georgia into war perplexes the ruling team’s situation even further.”
He says “despite the greatest difficulties, the ruling team worked aptly with right and principled stance, and overcame the first stage of the war threat.” However, the ex-PM believes until the end of the war in Ukraine, certain risks remain despite the said risks being cancelled out.
“As the war risks are subdued far as possible, the ruling team can shift its attention to “another crucial priority and ensure Georgia’s relations with its strategic partner, the United States and the European Union, are not damaged,” he stated.
In his lengthy statement, Ivanishvili also mentioned his “personal problems” with Switzerland-based investment banking company Credit Suisse, claiming the issues are directly linked to the ongoing processes in Georgia. “However, as Georgia practically tackled the war threat, rather than expose the relationship between the Swiss bank and me too much to society, I prefer to keep it as my private matter,” he asserted.
In his ending part, Ivanishvili echoed the claims over his meeting with the US Ambassador to Georgia, noting that at the request of the Ambassador he had held a three-hour meeting with Kelly Degnan on March 21.
On July 21, US Ambassador said, “I have not met with Mr. Ivanishvili in quite some time. In every meeting, I’ve had with him over the past two and a half years that I have been in Georgia, I have always assured him of the United States’ full support for the people of Georgia and our willingness to work with the government of Georgia for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future for Georgia’s democratic and economic development. In none of those meetings have I ever tried to blackmail Mr. Ivanishvili.”
Source: https://1tv.ge/lang/en/news/bidzina-ivanishvili-releases-statement-2/
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The Public Defender of Georgia would like to respond to the statement made by Irakli Kobakhidze, Chairman of the Georgian Dream political movement of citizens, in which he speaks about the possible responsibility of the Public Defender and doctors invited by her. This rhetoric goes beyond the legal framework, represents an attempt to attack and intimidate an independent constitutional body and its experts, and contradicts national and international human rights obligations.
The Organic Law on the Public Defender of Georgia gives the Public Defender the authority to invite experts and specialists to perform expert activities. This very authority was used by the Public Defender of Georgia on November 16, 2021 and a multidisciplinary group of experts was set up to evaluate Mikheil Saakashvili's medical services. Since then, the Chairman of the Georgian Dream political movement has been referring to "possible future responsibility" of the Public Defender and the experts invited by her without any legal arguments, for some abstract reasons. The above represents an attempt to put pressure on representatives/experts of the Public Defender of Georgia due to expression of their professional views, which is contrary to both the Constitution of Georgia and international principles.
We call on the United Nations, Council of Europe, OSCE/ODIHR, diplomatic missions accredited in Georgia and ombuds/NHRI associations to study the above issue and assess it within their mandates. Contrary to the Paris Principles (https://bit.ly/3HzC8NK), the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers on national human rights institutions (https://bit.ly/3DuL1G1) and the Venice Principles (https://bit.ly/30ve39L), the Public Defender of Georgia encounters obstacles in the implementation of her mandate, while experts may refuse to cooperate with the Public Defender in the future.
Once again, we would like to thank the qualified and conscientious medical professionals who managed to make an assessment in a short time. We also call on the relevant professional associations to support these persons.
