Saakashvili on his 54th birthday: my choice is simple - freedom or death
Former president Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, a day before Georgian municipal elections. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Imprisoned former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili stated on his 54th birthday today in Gori military hospital that he returned to Georgia after eight years of political exile because the country ‘stopped development,’ and that he is ready to die if Georgia ‘is not freed’ from its current leadership.
Saakashvili’s long Facebook post comes ahead of the opposition’s rally in central Tbilisi today at 18:00, where demonstrators will demand the release of the third president, who now holds Ukrainian citizenship.
In addition to his recent statement that ‘reconciliation (of former and current authorities) is in everyone’s interests,’ Saakashvili has encouraged the public to take to the streets ‘to make the current government accept a dialogue (with the opposition) and early parliamentary elections.’
He reiterated that he was imprisoned because he ‘created a modern Georgian state, built new cities, made Georgia an international player and opposed the Russian occupiers.’
Saakashvili claimed that Georgia has lost more territories under the Georgian Dream leadership than in the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
He has accused the current government of taking anti-western steps and ‘pushing the country to Russia.’
The Euro-Atlantic course has no alternative. Now Georgia is going nowhere, so it is moving to Russia. Russia has its spies in our law enforcement agencies, in all state bodies and even in the church,” Saakashvili said.
He stated that Georgia should have a coalition parliament and all laws therein should be adopted in accordance with European standards.
Saakashvili said that judges invited from the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Estonia should replace Georgian judges in the country’s Supreme Court for at least five years to ‘end the running of the court by a clan of judges.’
He also said that strong self-governments are necessary and that all elections should be held electronically.
A new airport in Shiraki valley (in eastern Georgia) is necessary and a developed naval infrastructure to achieve the deployment of US and NATO troops in the country,” Saakashvili said.
Saakashvili was convicted in Georgia in absentia for abuse of power in 2018 and was sentenced to six years in prison.
He has also been charged with five other offenses.
Head of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Irakli Kobakhidze says that ‘national reconciliation,’ making peace between the current and former leaderships of Georgia, is possible if the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party ‘admits to the grave crimes they committed while in office and then leaves politics.’
Georgia's former president Mikheil Saakashvili says that ‘national reconciliation,’ referring to making peace between the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and his United National Movement, ‘is the best outcome for everyone.’
Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on hunger strike since his arrest in Tbilisi on October 1, announced earlier today that he will no longer cooperate with the medical council and will refuse to receive hunger-related treatment.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says that former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili will neither be released early from prison, nor will he be transferred to Ukraine. "This will never take place. If the government allows any of these scenarios to happen, it will be disrespectful to the rule of law,” Garibashvili says. Saakashvili, who is a citizen of Ukraine and currently chairs the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian National Reform Council, was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, a day before the Georgian municipal elections.
Opposition United National Movement (UNM) Head Nika Melia has announced a mass hunger strike demanding imprisoned former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili's release during the UNM rally held in central Tbilisi this evening.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that he is ‘personally involved’ in negotiations with the Georgian authorities regarding ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 and currently is undergoing treatment in Gori Military Hospital following a hunger strike, Ukrainian online media outlet Ukrainska Pravda reports.
A total of nine tents have been set out on Kakheti Highway close to the central office of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party with about 300 people on hunger strike, following the announcement of a mass protest demanding ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s release yesterday at a rally in central Tbilisi, news agency IPN reports.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the Georgian government ‘to treat ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili with respect,’ calling a recent attempt on December 27 to transfer him from Gori Military Hospital to Rustavi No. 12 prison ‘improper.'
Former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was undergoing treatment in Gori Military Hospital following his 50-hunger-strike since the day of his arrest in Tbilisi on October 1, has been transferred from the hospital back to Rustavi No. 12 prison earlier today, the ex-president’s lawyer Nika Gvaramia reported.