The United National Movement [UNM] had directly supported the 2008 resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [CoE] on the consequences of the 2008 war, which accused Georgian soldiers of war crimes. Such a statement made today the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament.

“The UNM supported the resolution by which the Georgian soldiers were accused of war crimes. The UNM recognised the Heidi Tagliavini Report, according to which, Mikheil Saakashvili opened fire. Everything must be answered.

The Georgian Dream managed to turn around the ongoing disputes in international courts, we acquitted the Georgian soldiers whom the UNM [party] accused of war crimes through the resolution of the Council of Europe.

All soldiers were acquitted and the representatives of the separatist regime were found guilty. The International Criminal Court found that in August 2008, the only perpetrators of war crimes were the separatist regime and the Russian military. According to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, it was recognised at the court level that the territories of Georgia are occupied by Russia”, - said Shalva Papuashvili.

The CoE resolution, signed by the UNM Government, said “the initiation of shelling of Tskhinvali without warning by the Georgian military, on 7 August 2008, marked a new level of escalation, namely that of open and fully fledged warfare. The use of heavy weapons and cluster munitions, creating grave risks for civilians, constituted a disproportionate use of armed force by Georgia, albeit within its own territory, and as such a violation of international humanitarian law and Georgia’s commitment to resolve the conflict peacefully”.