TBILISI. Oct 20 (Interfax) - Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has insisted that former President Mikheil Saakashvili's arrest has not been addressed at any of his official meetings with representatives of the European Union, the United States, or NATO.
"After the former president was detained and is serving his time in Georgia's penitentiary system, I've had a lot of meetings with my European counterparts," Zalkaliani told journalists on Tuesday.
"I also attended the Georgian prime minister's meeting with the U.S. defense secretary, and I met today with the NATO secretary general's special representative, and we've never spoken about the former president. This issue has not been discussed," he said.
The matter has never been brought up at the state level, and Georgia's European and Euro-Atlantic integration has never been called into question, he said.
"Everyone is well aware that Georgia is a sovereign country, which has its institutions, and everyone respects our institutions. A court has convicted Mikheil Saakashvili, he has been charged and convicted in particular criminal cases, and he is serving his time in line with a sentence handed down by the Georgian justice system and a Georgian court," Zalkaliani said.