The President of Georgia announced the use of Saakashvili to discredit the country

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili announced that the situation with ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili was used to discredit the country. According to her, Georgia turned out to be a “hostage” in this scandal, Rustavi 2 TV channel reports.

“The unprecedented discrediting of the country continues, this prevents us from properly developing relations with our partners, <...> to express solidarity with the Ukrainian people and country during this most difficult test, which damages the Georgian tradition, hinders our recognized European perspective. <...> The country is hostage to this single issue,” Zurabishvili said.

The president also noted that if released, he would become an active enemy not only of the authorities, but also “in fact, the reputation of the country and, consequently, its European chances.”

On February 6, the Tbilisi court did not satisfy the petition of Saakashvili’s defense to release the politician or postpone his punishment for health reasons. On January 31, Giorgi Chaladze, a member of the United National Movement party of associates of the ex-president, announced that Saakashvili had been transferred to intensive care. After that, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on the Georgian authorities to stop using “physical and psychological violence” against him, and also to transfer him to Kyiv.