The cabinet of the chairman of the Parliament of Georgia has published a letter stating that the right of members of Parliament to visit the former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili without a permit is suspended.
Georgia Today offers the letter in its original form:
“In a Letter dated 27 December 2020, the Minister of Justice informed Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia of the tightening of Security Measures by the Special Penitentiary Service including in terms of Meetings, in order to safeguard the safety and legal interest of Mikheil Saakashvili, and requested that said circumstance be taken into consideration when making a decision about the issuance of Permits to Members of the Parliament.
The Georgian Imprisonment Code outlines the procedures for entering a penitentiary and visiting a prisoner, as well as issuing a permit to enter. The Imprisonment Code also provides for a number of officials (Presidents, Prime Ministers, Chairmen of the Parliament and Public Defenders, etc.). The right to enter a penitentiary is granted without requiring a special permit. According to the Imprisonment Code of Georgia and the Rules of Procedure of Parliament of Georgia, any member of Parliament may, at his discretion, be granted the right to enter a penitentiary.
Since 3 October 2021, the Chairman of the parliament has issued 228 permits to members of the parliament to visit Mikheil Sakaashvili. This shows that the appeal by members of Parliament to be granted the right has gone beyond the scope noted in the request – i.e. familiarizing themselves with the conditions under which the prisoner serves his sentence – and is now being used for meetings with the prisoner on a personal or professional level, as the Chairman of Parliament has repeatedly stated.
It is important to note that, in addition to the Special Penitentiary Service (SPS), the conditions under the which the convict serves his sentence are monitored, primarily, by his attorneys, who have visited Mikheil Saakashvili 533 times to date. The Public Defender and her representatives can also visit any prisoner, at any time. Mikheil Sakaashvili has already been visited 57 times by the Public Defender and her representatives. In the same way, the monitoring of the conditions in which Mikheil Sakaashvili serves his sentence was fully assured.
According to the above, the decision of the chairman of Parliament suspends the right of members of Parliament to enter the prison without a permit to visit Mikheil Sakaashvili, a convict.
“In addition, the permits issued today for the week beginning 2 January 2023 will remain in effect.”
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