If Mykhailo Saakashvili dies in prison, it will affect the fate of Georgia. Former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said this in an interview with the Georgian service of "Voice of America". He again called on the Georgian authorities to ensure the protection of the ex-president's rights.
"I am 100% sure that if Saakashvili dies in prison, it will be decisive for the fate of Georgia. When asked what Georgia is famous for, they will answer that it is a country where one of the former presidents was imprisoned and he died there. I am concerned about the negative consequences of his death in prison. This should be avoided at all costs. If he is healthy, I hope we will be shown the evidence. It would be a good step to demonstrate to the world that he is not in serious danger, as some doctors suggest," he said.
The diplomat and coordinator of the International Working Group on Sanctions against Russia created by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, also suggested that Tbilisi could help Moscow circumvent the restrictions. According to him, more attention will be paid to this issue in 2023.
"It is tragic that the European Union granted the status of a candidate [for joining the EU] to Moldova and Ukraine, but not to Georgia. I think this is proof that Europe and the USA see the state of democracy in Georgia. As for helping Russia circumvent sanctions, in 2023 much more attention will be paid to correcting the flaws of the sanctions regime. More attention will be paid to countries such as Belarus and Georgia, which, according to analysts, help Russia avoid sanctions," said the former US ambassador to Russia.
As SOVA writes, earlier Michael McFaul published a column in The Washington Post in which he called on world leaders to save Mikheil Saakashvili. The piece, titled "The World Shouldn't Let Georgia's Ex-President Die in Prison," notes that while everyone is rightly focused on the war in Ukraine, Putin continues to push a destabilizing and anti-democratic agenda in other parts of the world.