Georgian Vice Speaker invites German Ambassador to attend hearings on alleged past abuses

Georgia’s Vice Speaker of Parliament, Thea Tsulukiani, has invited the German Ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, to attend a parliamentary hearing investigating alleged human rights abuses committed during the rule of the United National Movement (UNM) government between 2003 and 2012.

Tsulukiani, who also chairs the Temporary Investigative Commission probing the alleged crimes, made the remarks during a televised session on Monday, responding to what she described as Ambassador Fischer’s visible frustration over delays in legal proceedings against opposition figures.

“Mr. Ambassador, come, our door is open,” she said. “We will discuss, we will make a decision, and we will allow you to attend these sessions with your interpreter and listen to what Mr. Nikoloz Goguadze has to say about the Kintsvisi operation.”

According to Tsulukiani, the commission has heard testimony detailing serious abuses during the UNM era, including allegations of physical torture, forced confessions, and psychological coercion in prison facilities such as Gldani.

“How they were beaten, how they jumped on living people, how they broke their spines, tortured them,” she said. “We deliberately do not want to specify the names or the content of the torture, because, unlike [former President Mikheil] Saakashvili, we protect the right to privacy and dignity.”

Tsulukiani urged foreign diplomats to witness the hearings first-hand before drawing conclusions about the country’s political history. “There is a place on our commission,” she said. “Come on, just listen - and then you will make informed assessments regarding who Saakashvili really was.”