President Biden should call on President Zourabichvili to pardon Mikheil Saakashvili, Michael McFaul says
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, January 6, 2023
The former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul published an extensive opinion letter about Mikheil Saakashvili in the Washington Post and called on President Joe Biden, together with European democratic leaders, to immediately come out with a call to save Mikheil Saakashvili.
McFaul emphasized the medical report released by Mikheil Saakashvili's lawyers, about possible poisoning, and recently released pictures from the clinic showing Saakashvili exhausted and disoriented.
McFaul believes that President Biden and other leaders, based on humanitarian considerations, should call on Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili to pardon Mikheil Saakashvili and give him the opportunity to travel abroad for medical treatment.
McFaul also mentioned the resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in October 2022, which talks about the necessity to release the political prisoner Saakashvili.
"President Biden, in close coordination with other democratic leaders in Europe, must make an urgent appeal to save Saakashvili. On humanitarian grounds, Biden and others must urge Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili to grant Saakashvili a pardon and allow him to travel to a medical facility outside the country - a measure already demanded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which has also declared Saakashvili a political prisoner." he wrote.
McFaul wrote that Saakashvili's death will be Putin's victory and a blow to Georgian democracy. According to the American diplomat, Ukrainian President Zelensky understands this best, who last month called on the Georgian authorities to release the ex-president:
"Saakashvili's death in jail would be a victory for Putin and a blow to Georgian democracy. No one understands this better than Zelensky, who last month appealed to the Georgian authorities to "show mercy" by releasing the ex-president.
Zelensky was right to do so. The United States and the European Union should follow suit. The free world has stood together in defense of democracy in Ukraine. They should do the same in Georgia by pressing for Saakashvili's release," McFaul wrote.
