The Minister of Justice states that Mikheil Saakashvili has never refused a medical treatment during his entire detention and the information that he refuses to follow the recommendations of doctors is an example of manipulation of the voters.

"As for the statement that Mikheil Saakashvili stopped and refused to continue medical treatment, it is a complete lie and it is very unfortunate when he misleads the public and deceives his own voters, first of all, and then the rest of the society," Rati Bregadze told Rustavi 2.

The Minister of Justice noted that convicted Saakashvili follows all the recommendations of the doctors in order to maintain health and energy; The various statements that are made are aimed at manipulating the will of the voters. "This is another very big lie to deceive their own voters, to manipulate their electoral will ... We saw today the statement of various politicians who told voters that whoever votes for another force, he will sign Saakashvili's assassination. This is a total violence against the public," said Rati Bregadze.

The Minister of Justice stressed that the spread of such false information is aimed at misleading the public before the second round of elections. "However, on the eve of the election, the prisoner allegedly refused treatment - half an hour after the announcement, he received medical treatment and received absolutely all the fluids, drugs and pills he had been taking in the previous days," said the Minister, adding that Saakashvili has never refused to undergo medical intervention.

"In order to promote a healthy lifestyle, all convicts will have maximum support," - said Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze at an event held at the Sheraton Metechi Palace. The Minister congratulated the female convicts on their victory and pledged his support.

The award ceremony for the female convicts who won the tournament was organized by the Georgian Chess Federation with the support of the Ministry of Justice and was attended by the convicts participating in the competition.

Chess player, Nona Gaprindashvili personally congratulated the female convicts on the victory in the tournament and presented them with medals and various prizes.

For information, the Georgian convicted women's team won the title of world chess champion among convicts. The competition was held online. Teams from 4 countries participated in the final competition: Georgia, Russia, Ukraine and Trinidad and Tobago. In the final battle, the female convicts defeated the Russian team.

On October 15, 2021, the EU-Georgia Association Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security held its the seventh meeting. The Subcommittee meetings are usually held annually, alternately in Tbilisi and Brussels. This year the subcommittee meeting was held online.

The meeting of the Subcommittee on Freedom, Security and Justice within the framework of the EU-Georgia Association Cooperation is an important part of the institutional cooperation between Georgia and the EU, which discusses issues such as: reforms of the rule of law, judiciary and law enforcement agencies; Issues of organized crime and other illegal activities (including money laundering and the fight against terrorism); Legal cooperation in civil and criminal cases; Migration, asylum and border management issues, etc. The successful activities of Georgia in the fight against corruption, trafficking, drugs, as well as the ongoing reforms in the penitentiary system were highlighted at the meeting.

The purpose of the meeting is to provide the EU with information on the reforms and achievements aimed at strengthening the rule of law, justice and security.

The meeting of the Subcommittee is coordinated by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia from the Georgian side with the involvement of the Parliament of Georgia; the Government Administration; the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia; the Georgian State Security Service; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia; the Chief Prosecutor's Office; the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs; the Financial Monitoring Service; the Public Services Development Agency; the High Council of Justice; representatives of the Office of the State Inspector.

Representatives of the European Commission, the European External Action Service and the EU Delegation to Georgia took part in the meeting of the EU Subcommittee.

ანონის უზენაესობის 2021 წლის ინდექსში საქართველო აღმოსავლეთ ევროპისა და ცენტრალური აზიის რეგიონში I ადგილზე, საშუალოშემოსავლიანი კატეგორიის ქვეყნების ხუთეულში, ხოლო მსოფლიოს მასშტაბით საუკეთესო 50 ქვეყანას შორისაა.

„მსოფლიოს მართლმსაჯულების პროექტის“ მიერ წარმოებული კანონის უზენაესობის ინდექსი კანონის უზენაესობის მხრივ ვითარებას 44 ინდიკატორის მიხედვით მსოფლიოს 139 ქვეყანაში აფასებს.

კორუფციის არარსებობა, ღია მმართველობა, მმართველობის ზომიერება, ფუნდამენტური უფლებები, ნორმატიული უზრუნველყოფა და სისხლისსამართლებრივი მართლმსაჯულება - ჩამოთვლილ კატეგორიებში საქართველო აღმოსავლეთ ევროპასა და ცენტრალურ აზიაში პირველ ადგილზე გავიდა.

44 ინდიკატორიდან განსაკუთრებით გამოსარჩევია კრიმინალისგან თავისუფლების/დანაშაულის კონტროლის ეფექტიანობის ინდექსი. აქაც საქართველო აღმოსავლეთ ევროპასა და ცენტრალურ აზიაში პირველი, ევროპის საუკეთესო ათეულში მე-9, მსოფლიოში კი მე-14 პოზიციაზეა.

რაც შეეხება კიდევ ერთ კატეგორიას: „კორუფციისგან თავისუფლების ინდექსი“ - საქართველო მსოფლიოში 31-ე, ხოლო ევროპის საუკეთესო ოცეულში მე-19 პოზიციას იკავებს.

„მსოფლიოს მართლმსაჯულების პროექტის“ ინდექსის კვლევის მეთოდოლოგია კვალიფიციურ რესპონდენტთა (ექსპერტთა) და მოსახლეობის გამოკითხვას ეფუძნება. ინდექსის კვლევისთვის მსოფლიოში ასეულობით ათასი რესპონდენტი და ექსპერტი გამოიკითხა.

Members of the group monitoring legal and health condition of Mikheil Saakashvili agreed on the working format. Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze stated about it after the first meeting of the group. According to the Minister, the members of the interagency working group will regularly exchange information and, if necessary, plan concrete steps together.

"As a result of today's meeting, we agreed that within the framework of inter-agency cooperation, we will regularly share information with each other. We have asked the Public Defender to carry out regular monitoring of the legal situation. A multifunctional group of doctors has already been formed and their involvement will depend on the consent of Mikheil Saakashvili himself," said the Minister.

Rati Bregadze emphasized that the Ministry of Justice is interested in protecting the rights of prisoners as much as possible, and ensuring that the health condition is stable.

"Once again, I want to say, we cannot really give anyone the right to mislead the public. All our actions will be adequate. Our only interest is to ensure the rights to be protected as much as possible and that the state of health is stable. Those who are driven by other goals and in this case are participants in a targeted political campaign, we advise to refrain again due to the prisoner's condition," said Rati Bregadze.

According to the Minister, the standard of protection of prisoners' rights in Georgia is high, which is evidenced by today's meeting. For this, he thanked the Prime Minister of Georgia, all the heads of the relevant agencies and each staff member of the Special Penitentiary Service, who care about the protection of the rights of prisoners, as well as all participants in the meeting, who responded immediately to the request of the Ministry of Justice.

Participants of the today’s meeting of the monitoring group were: Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration, Mikheil Sarjveladze; Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Health Care and Social Affairs, Dimitri Khundadze; Minister of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs, Ekaterine Tikaradze; Public Defender, Nino Lomjaria and Head of the Special Penitentiary Service, Nika Tskhvarashvili.

Our goal is for the public to have complete, comprehensive and objective information about the legal status and health of convicted Mikheil Saakashvili.

We request Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration, Mikheil Sarjveladze and Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Health and Social Affairs, Dimitri Khundadze to monitor the protection of prisoner’s rights in order to make the process more transparent to the public;

We address Public Defender, Nino Lomjaria and request cooperation;

We also requested the Minister of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs, Ekaterine Tikaradze to set up a multifunctional group of doctors to study and analyze the health condition of the prisoner. The aim of the group of doctors will be to periodically monitor the health condition of Mikheil Saakashvili and, if necessary, to propose relevant recommendations.

The Deputy Minister of Justice evaluates the results of the 2021 Global Governance Efficiency Index, according to which Georgia is in the list of the top twenty of European and World Bank member states, ranking 21st in the world. Compared to last year, Georgia has improved its rating position by 8 places and took 62% with a 100% rating scale, which is the best result historically.

"This success is the result of the effective work of the Georgian government ... We are talking about two indicators in particular - the provision of public services and anti-corruption reforms," ​​said Tornike Cheishvili.

According to the Deputy Minister, "Improving services and increasing their availability is a daily process, and in terms of anti-corruption reforms, increasing accountability and transparency, and improving the criminal legislation."

"We, of course, will be committed to this course and will continue to work to achieve even greater success," said the Deputy Minister of Justice.

According to the Global Governance Performance Index, Georgia is a leader in the Black Sea and the Caucasus, and worldwide, is ahead of the United Kingdom, France, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, etc.

The 2021 Global Governance Efficiency Index was published by the transnational research center SolAbility. The study evaluates the governments of 180 countries around the world according to 26 indicators, which are finally grouped into 15 criteria of 5 clusters. The determinants of the rating are: government cohesion (criteria: public services, education budget, military spending), infrastructure (criteria: investments, roads and rail, transmission), business environment (criteria: ease of doing business, business registration, sector developments) (Corruption (criteria: Corruption Index, Bribery prevalence, Red tape), Financial Stability (Criteria: Austerity, Exposure to Financial Shocks, Financial Regulation).

The Government Performance Index is based on surveys by the World Bank, UN profile institutions, and the world’s leading research centers.

Customers will be able to receive hundreds of public services remotely without visiting the Public Service Hall or the Community Center, using a mobile phone, said the Minister of Justice of Georgia at the presentation of the 10-year strategic plan.

According to Rati Bregadze, the Ministry of Justice plans to introduce an innovative project - Digital Public Service Hall. The project will enable the customers to receive any service through the mobile application, without leaving their homes.

The mobile app will be a modern and digital extension branch of the Public Service Hall.

At the initiative of the Ministry of Justice, a digital university will be established for convicted students. According to the Minister of Justice, "an innovative idea is to create an electronic platform for universities, which will offer digital services to students with special needs.”

Rati Bregadze spoke about creation of a digital university for convicts at the presentation of the Justice Ministry's 10-year strategic plan. According to the Minister, "Digital University will increase the opportunity and interest of prisoners to receive higher education, which will help their rehabilitation and re-socialization."

The digital university will start functioning in September in cooperation with universities, which will allow convicted students to receive a full-fledged education, said Rati Bregadze.

Digital University will give convicted students the opportunity to study individually. They will be able to attend online lectures and have interactive communication with lecturers.