Ministry of Justice: Saakashvili has no right to participate in political processes in Georgia

The convicted ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili does not have the right to participate in political processes in the country, as he is a citizen of Ukraine, the Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said, Report informs via Georgian media.

“The convicted Saakashvili is a citizen of Ukraine, he is not a citizen of Georgia. Therefore, he will not be able to participate in Georgian politics. He is not a Georgian politician,” Bregadze said.

He noted that he does not understand how the pardon of a Ukrainian politician could affect depolarization in Georgia.

“Saakashvili is not a Georgian politician, he is a Ukrainian politician, and therefore, if we are talking about weakening or ending political depolarization in Georgia, in this case it is not clear to me how the pardon of a Ukrainian citizen who committed a crime in Georgia and is serving a sentence here is connected with political depolarization," he noted.

The United National Movement party founded by Saakashvili is collecting signatures in Georgia to get the politician pardoned. He himself said that he decided to join the election campaign of the United National Movement before the parliamentary elections on October 26. The National Movement has already supported this decision.

According to Georgian legislation, pardon is possible only in cases in which a sentence has been passed. The Tbilisi City Court has not yet passed a verdict on Saakashvili in three cases - embezzlement of public funds, dispersal of a protest rally on November 7, 2007, and illegal border crossing.