Georgian parliament speaker: Saakashvili’s arrest won’t affect brotherly relations with Ukraine

Georgian Parliament Speaker Kakha Kuchava has stated after casting his ballot in today’s municipal elections that the recent arrest of Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili will not affect ‘brotherly relations with Ukraine.’ 

Saakashvili, who currently chairs the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian National Reforms Council, was arrested in Tbilisi late yesterday. 

Saakashvili, who has been convicted to six years in prison in absentia, has urged people to vote for the United National Movement (UNM) opposition in the elections. 

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Ukraine and Georgia have always supported each other both in difficult and happy times,” Kuchava said. 

He stated that Saakashvili has been persistently violating the law when he, as a citizen of Ukraine, was interfering in Georgia’s internal issues. 

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Kuchava also said that politicians had not been informed of the special operation which aimed at Saakashvili's arrest and that is why the ruling party MPs were making different statements on Saakashvili’s presence in Georgia yesterday. 

Fewer people should have known about the special operation to prevent any threats,” Kuchava said. 

Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili stated yesterday that ‘our law enforcement agencies had prior information about his (Saakashvili’s) movement from Ukraine to Georgia.’