Opposition rallies at Rustavi prison in support of detained ex-president Saakashvili
The United National Movement opposition party and their supporters are holding a rally at Rustavi No.12 prison now to express their support to the country’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili. Photo: RFE/RL.
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The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party and their supporters are now rallying at Rustavi No.12 prison to express support for the currently detained third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.
Saakashvili, who recently returned to Georgia for the first time since 2013, was detained in Tbilisi on October 1, ahead of Saturday’s municipal elections.
He claimed he ‘put his life at risk’ to help his UNM party win the elections and change the Georgian Dream government via snap parliamentary elections.
At the rally UNM head Nika Melia claimed that the GD’s attempts ‘to cause a rift’ between him and Saakashvili are ‘in vain.’
Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili stated yesterday that Saakashvili planned a large rally in central Tbilisi on October 3 ‘with bloody provocations’ to spark tension in the country and Melia stood against the move.
My letter from prison
— Mikheil Saakashvili (@SaakashviliM) October 2, 2021
My dear associates and my Georgian community.
When I left Kyiv and came here, I knew that I would most likely be arrested, with fabricated, false verdicts which were issued by order of Putin. No country in the world except Russia recognizes this sentence... pic.twitter.com/ffA8VPvhz6
Garibashvili said that Melia dislikes Saakashvili and ‘is happy’ the ex-president is in prison.
No one will be able to cause a rift between me and Saakashvili. Moreover, it is my human, political and civic responsibility to fight to the end (for the release of Saakashvili),” Melia said.
During the rally Saakashvili’s lawyer read the ex-president’s letter to supporters, in which he said that the municipal election results were ‘great’ and that now the people must fight for the opposition’s victory in election run-offs.
The ruling party and PM Garibashvili, however, say that the municipal elections, in which the GD received almost 47 per cent of the vote in the proportional part of the elections and won the majority of mayoral constituencies, ‘has finally demolished the destructive opposition.’
Garibashvili stated that the GD will also win mayoral runoffs in 20 of 64 constituencies, including the second round of elections in five major cities of Georgia - Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Batumi and Poti on October 30.
Georgian ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, has called for a ‘high-level of mobilisation and a more powerful attack’ for the mayoral election runoffs in 20 of 64 election constituencies on October 30.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says that ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who was detained in Tbilisi on October 1, will be able to leave the country only after he serves his prison sentence.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has won the local municipal elections ‘convincingly’ nationwide while the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party ‘lost the battle with Georgian people and the GD for the eighth time.’ "The elections were held in a successful, peaceful, free and fair environment and were unanimously positively assessed by international observers,” Garibashvili said.
Georgian former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was detained in Tbilisi on October 1 ahead of municipal elections in the country says he is ‘deeply touched’ by the support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Opposition United National Movement (UNM) MP Levan Khabeishvili has announced a ‘large-scale’ demonstration to release recently detained Georgian former president Mikheil Saakashvili and called on the public to join. "We must start preparing for a large rally, the whole of Georgia must stand on its feet...Let's start organising from here and interacting with each other,” says Khabeishvili in his Facebook post.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party head Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that the GD won the so-called referendum announced by ‘the radical opposition’ with 66 per cent of seats in city councils (Sakrebulo) nationwide. Kobakhidze said that the ruling party counts on increasing the figure to 68 per cent after the runoff.
Head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia has called on party supporters in Zugdidi, western Georgia, to join a rally tomorrow to protest the recent recount of votes which may leave the party without the chance to form a majority in Zugdidi city assembly.
Police have arrested several supporters of recently detained former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in front of Rustavi prison earlier today as a result of a clash between protesters and law enforcers. The largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party supporter Zviad Kuprava has been arrested along with several other protesters who aimed to make inscriptions 'Freedom to Misha' on the walls of the prison.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria says that the country’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili is receiving ‘proper attention’ in Rustavi Prison No.12 and that ‘no violations of his rights’ have been reported so far by her representatives in terms of Saakashvili’s living conditions.
The third president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who was detained in Tbilisi on October 1, has been officially charged for the illegal crossing of the state border earlier today. Six other criminal charges are filed against Saakashvili who has been convicted to six years of imprisonment in two cases while four other criminal cases are still being heard in Tbilisi City Court.
Police have arrested two individuals, identified only as E.A. and R Ch., for attacking a member of a rally in support of imprisoned third President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili in Rustavi.