Ana Tsitlidze, a member of the United National Movement (UNM) party, has filed a motion to summon as witnesses to hearings at the Constitutional Court Georgia’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, and the chairman of the UNM Political Council, Levan Khabeishvili. Both are currently serving prison sentences.
Tsitlidze made the corresponding motion during the court session—today, October 21, the Constitutional Court of Georgia began hearing a lawsuit brought by the ruling Georgian Dream party seeking to ban five opposition parties.
“Since the lawsuit covers the period from 2003 to 2012 and from 2012 to the present day, we demand that Mikheil Saakashvili be brought in as a witness, as the main target of this lawsuit is none other than Mikheil Saakashvili—he was president during those years. I am particularly curious to see what kind of questions will be posed by Tengiz Sharmanashvili, who served as an ambassador appointed by Saakashvili—now the accused party in this lawsuit—during his presidency, or Giorgi Kakhiani, who headed Davit Sakvarelidze’s campaign headquarters during the National Movement’s tenure.
The first person we demand to be called as a witness is Mikheil Saakashvili, and the second is Levan Khabeishvili as Chairman of the Political Council of the United National Movement, particularly regarding the period from 2012 to the present day. He has held the post of political council chairman for two consecutive terms. Consequently, his position on these years, and even more so Mikheil Saakashvili’s position from the Rose Revolution through 2012 inclusive, is fundamentally important so that the citizens of Georgia can see and hear everything for themselves,” the opposition politician stated.
Earlier, Tsitlidze moved for the recusal of all seven judges on the panel; however, the plenum of the Constitutional Court dismissed the petition.
