The MPs said Georgia's current administration is drifting away from the European democratic standards and Euro-Atlantic integration processes.
Among signatories of the address are Mantas Adomėnas, Emanuelis Zingeris, Vilija Aleknaitė Abramikienė, Arvydas Anušauskas, Audronius Ažubalis, Pranas Žeimys, and Andrius Kubilius of the opposition Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (Conservatives), Liberals Eligijus Masiulis and Petras Auštrevičius, as well as Povilas Urbšys and Rima Baškienė of the mixed group and Algirdas Patackas of the Path of Courage political group.
In the address, the parliamentarians expressed concern "over the pressure exerted upon Georgia's opposition – detention of high-ranking Georgian politicians and more than 100 employees of the former government following the last elections, which caused suspicions of selective justice in the country."
"There are concerns about the extensive and ungrounded legal instruments, such as application of pre-trial detention against one of the key leaders of the democratic opposition, Vano Merabishvili. This leads us to think that the measures are not targeted at executing justice but political crackdown of opposition political forces," reads the document.
The Lithuanian MPs ask the foreign minister to state a clear position urging the Georgian government to "prevent violation of democratic and legal principles and seek a joint position of the European Union," also calling for set up and delegation of a special study group that would prepare proposals for settlement of the crisis.
Merabishvili, Georgia's former prime minister and secretary general of the United General Movement, was detained last week on suspicions of corruption, squandering of governmental funds, and exceeding his official powers.
