Saakashvili refuses to be questioned by authorities

Georgia’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili is refusing to return to Georgia after being officially summoned for questioning by the country’s top investigative authority.

Saakashvili said he would not return to Georgia and believed his summoning was an act of "revenge” by former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Saakashvili, who fled Georgia after running out of his second and final presidential term last November, was summoned to appear at the Chief Prosecutors Office in Tbilisi at 11am on July 28, according to the subpoena issued by the Office late on July 27.

The summons did not state the reason for Saakashvili’s questioning or the case it related to, Georgian media stated.

After learning about the summons, Saakashvili went onto Facebook and commented. He said his summons for questioning was an act of "revenge and crackdown” by former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

"For almost two years, the [Government] and the majority lead by Bidzina Ivanishvili have focused all their efforts not on pursuing the development of our nation and making it more secure, but on prosecuting their opponents and putting in jail leaders who have reformed the country for 9 years,” he wrote on his facebook page.

Earlier, Saakashvili was summoned by the Office for questioning as a witness relating to several high-profile cases however he did not show up to his March 27 summons.

At the time Saakashvili refused to return to Georgia and to appear before prosecutors. The Office offered him the possibility of testifying via video conference from abroad, which he also denied.