"Free Georgia" to challenge 2008 presidential election at European Court

The opposition party "Free Georgia" has decided to appeal to the European Court and the Council of Europe in order to appeal against the outcomes of presidential election held on January 5, 2008.

Let us remind you that the extraordinary presidential election was held in Georgia January 5, 2008. The then incumbent President Mikhail Saakashvili won the election by gaining, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC), 52.2 percent of the votes.

According to Kakha Kukava, the leader of the "Free Georgia", who referred to local and international observers, "the data published by the CEC did not correspond to reality." The oppositionist claims that Mikhail Saakashvili was forced to falsify the election outcomes in order to achieve the desired result, the "Georgia Online" reports.

"The united opposition had repeatedly presented the CEC and the court with documents confirming falsification of election results; however, the opposition's attempts remained with no government's reaction. Therefore, the only instances, where we can challenge the outcomes of this election, are the Council of Europe and other European democratic institutions," the "Echo of the Caucasus" Radio quotes the leader of the "Free Georgia" Party.

So far, the Georgian authorities have made no comments on the initiative of the "Free Georgia".