21 Feb 2019 20:43

Georgian parliament votes against resolution on "criminal, authoritative" Saakashvili regime

TBILISI. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The Georgian parliament on Thursday voted against a resolution declaring the regime of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili to be criminal, an Interfax correspondent reported.

The resolution was drafted by the opposition Alliance of Patriots of Georgia. It says, in particular, that "the criminal and authoritative regime of Saakashvili-Bokeria [Giga Bokeria, a former Security Council Secretary] usurped the legislative and executive powers in Georgia by falsifying elections."

"The regime subdued the court system which condemned, having found them guilty, over eight per cent of the population who were tortured and mistreated in prison," the document reads.

Under the Saakashvili-Bokeria regime, there were 190 political detainees at Georgian prisons, the document said.

Before the vote, Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze said that the parliamentary majority agreed in principle with the assessments in the resolution but was opposed to its implementation section that gives prosecutors six months to complete all criminal inquiries against former officials, and hands over control over implementation of the resolution to parliament.

In the end, the resolution failed to win the required number of votes.