Bill Browder says behind Mikheil Saakashvili's 'torture' is Vladimir Putin
By Liza Mchedlidze
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
The British financier and the author of the Magnitsky Act Bill Browder said in an interview with 'TV Pirveli' that the ex-president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, is being tortured, and behind it is Vladimir Putin. According to him, if Saakashvili dies in prison, sanctions against several people will be inevitable.
As Browder noted, the more information there is about Mikheil Saakashvili being tortured, the more likely it is to create a temporary so-called 'Saakashvili's list', which will include people who participate in this action.
"I hope that the people who are making decisions now will stop doing this because if Saakashvili dies, they will have a hard life. It is obvious that Mikheil Saakashvili is being tortured. This can be seen from the photos, it didn't take a medical expert to see it. What's more interesting is who's responsible, as prosecutors are blocking his pleas to get medical treatment, prison doctors are probably involved in wrongdoing, and government officials are giving orders. The more information we have, the more likely we are to create a temporary, as we call it, 'Saakashvili list' where we include people who do this. This is an unbelievably evil act.
This is a humanitarian issue and every day we hear from the Georgian government that they are stubbornly not releasing and sending him to Europe for treatment. In this way, Georgia destroys its reputation at the international level."
According to him, President of Russia Vladimir Putin is behind all this, and he wants to take revenge on Saakashvili.
"It is clear that Saakashvili stood up to Putin in 2008 when he invaded Georgia. He has a personal vendetta against Mikheil Saakashvili. There are people in the Georgian government who like Putin and now it is clear that the situation is not going the normal way. In my opinion, Vladimir Putin is behind all this. He is trying to take revenge on Mikheil Saakashvili, who treated him disrespectfully. This is also a message to Volodymyr Zelensky, 'this is what will happen to you in the future', so we must not allow this," Browder said.
Mikheil Saakashvili stood up to Putin in 2008 when he invaded Georgia. He carried out a personal vendetta against Mikheil Saakashvili. There are people in the Georgian government who like Putin. And now it is clear that the situation is not going in a normal way. In my opinion, Vladimir Putin is behind all this. He is trying to take revenge on Mikheil Saakashvili, who treated him disrespectfully. This is also a message to Vladimir Zelensky: "Here's what will happen to you in the future." Therefore, we should not allow this.
Mikheil Saakashvili addressed an open letter to Browder and asked him to help local Georgian groups in compiling a new Magnitsky list before the fatal outcome for him.
Browder responded to Saakashvili's letter and asked the ex-president to have his team prepare documents on who is obstructing medical treatment and who is responsible for his poisoning and torture. Browder promised Saakashvili that he would do everything to ensure that the governments of Western countries pay attention to Magnitsky's sanctions.
