Saakashvili: don’t expect me to be pardoned

Former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who is serving a prison term in Rustavi Prison No.12, has said that ‘only the Georgian people’ can release him from prison.

Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after returning from eight years in political exile, considers himself a ‘political prisoner’ and has reportedly been on a hunger strike for 35 days.

In response to President Zurabishvili’s recent statement that she will ‘never’ pardon the ex-president, Saakashvili claims in his latest letter that he does not expect to be pardoned by the current government, as they ‘receive directions directly from Moscow’.

• Opposition slams president for her ‘strong refusal’ to pardon Saakashvili

Don’t expect me to get pardoned… Only the Georgian people can release me [from prison]. They will free themselves and free me, Saakashvili wrote.

The former president praised the ongoing wave of anti-government rallies in Georgia, saying that the current government has ‘run out of strength’.

He further approved of the opposition politician Elene Khoshtaria’s decision to go on a hunger strike in demand of Saakashvili’s transfer to a civil clinic rather than a prison hospital.

• Ruling party MP: Saakashvili will appear in funny situation on 41st day on hunger strike

Saakashvili, who is currently a citizen of Ukraine, was convicted by Georgian court in absentia in 2018 on two counts of abuse of power and was sentenced to six years in prison.

• What criminal charges have been filed against recently arrested ex-president Saakashvili?

The former president is now facing five additional charges, including illegal seizure of property, embezzlement, illegal rally dispersal, and illegal border crossing.