Translated material
"Imagine, I am an FSB agent?!"
The former president of Georgia, the leader of the opposition movement "Rukh of the New Forces", announced by the prosecutor’s office , Mikhail Saakashvili on Wednesday, did not come to an interrogation in the case of a coup d'etat in Ukraine. The day before, it was detained by SBU employees on the roof of an eight -story building, where the politician rents an apartment, but subsequently Saakashvili was released by supporters.
As the prosecutor general Yuri Lutsenko, who escorted the former Georgian leader, the SBU fighters had the right to open fire to defeat the activists who released the politician. Saakashvili spent the night from Tuesday to Wednesday for almost two months for almost two months by the tent town of the Verkhovna Rada, who was trying to storm special forces early on the morning of December 6. Defenders of the politician, preparing for new attacks, continue to build around the town of Barricade.
The SBU and the National Police at about six in the morning on Wednesday tried to storm the tent camp near the Verkhovna Rada. Activists resisted the use of tear gas to the special forces. Several people were injured in the clashes. Mikhail Saakashvili himself during these events, along with the guard, moved to the nearby Kyiv Hotel. On the territory of the hotel, according to Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko, "Saakashvili and his militants captured one of the Verkhovna Rada committees." Criminal proceedings have been opened on this fact. A few hours later, the former President of Georgia came to the parliament building and in a hoarse voice spoke at a press conference, including the morning events in the tent town:
Mikhail Saakashvili talks about those who suffered in a tent town, Kyiv, December 6, 2017
"In the morning they tried to make a provocation again. They tried to go into my tent, and I spent the night in the tent, but mixed up. And, unfortunately, these activists standing nearby suffered because of me."
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine notes that there was no assault on the tent camp, and the SBU and police fighters took measures to detain the leader of the Rucha new forces announced the day before.
#Kyiva : Vranzi on Vikonnnya Doruchennya GPU half the SBU, they were led to go to Rozshuku that sample M. Saakashvil. Activities have drew Chinity to a trial of lawyeron. PID Verdi was rolled by the dressing room of lawyeron. pic.twitter.com/angg4vrdxw
- MVS Ukrainian (@mvs_ua) December 6, 2017
About the reasons for the failure of the next consignment of Ukrainian guardians, political scientist Peter Oleshchuk argues:
- In this situation, law enforcement agencies are torn between two centers and two grounds for their decisions. On the one hand, they clearly have a command to somehow neutralize Saakashvili, naturally, relying on the norms of the legislation, but, on the other hand, there is clearly not enough will and support in order to finish all this. And as a result, such half-hearted actions, when the special forces seem to be pathetic to arrest him, but under pressure from the crowds are forced to retreat, become a kind of PR campaign for Saakashvili, who gradually acquires an opposition to the number one in the country and continues to concentrate political support and various resources. If such half -heartedness continues, then this will contribute to the increase in the authority of the leader "RNS".
At nine o’clock in the morning of Kyiv time, Mikhail Saakashvili was expected in the Prosecutor General in the case of a coup in Ukraine, but the disgraced politician refused to come for interrogation. This is what he said about this at a press conference at the Verkhova Rada:
"I will not go to the Prosecutor General. Lutsenko is brazenly lying, including regarding my status, I do not consider him the legal prosecutor of Ukraine. I am ready to accept their investigator here in the tent camp. But all their actions are illegal, starting from attempts to register my party, then depriving me of Ukrainian citizenship, then slander, which they released on December 5 (Lutsenko said, as Lutsenko said . Saakashvili entered into the oligarch Sergey Kurchenko, who fled to Russia, and for his money, they declared me an agent of the Russian FSB Propagent articles in international publications.
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How SBU tried to detain Saakashvili
Saakashvili received Ukrainian citizenship two years ago from the hands of President Petro Poroshenko, who called the former Georgian leader his friend and appointed him then the governor of the Odessa region. Saakashvili left this post with a scandal after a year and a half, accusing the presidential environment of corruption. Then he created a “ruch of new forces”, calling for early parliamentary elections to change the political elite in the country. But so far the current RNS rating (according to the October survey of the center of Alexander Razumkov, 1.7% of Ukrainians support the party.-RS) does not give her a chance to pass to Rada, and Saakashvili himself, due to legislative restrictions, cannot claim either the deputy or the presidential chair.
The head of the sociological service "Ukrainian barometer" Viktor Nebozhenko suggests that a new attempt by the authorities to get rid of Saakashvili, whose opposition activity in Ukraine he calls "unique" may be associated with some kind of grand provocation:
- Usually in Ukraine one politician criticizes the president, and then holds his position, and in this case Saakashvili will definitely not be the new president of Ukraine. And the point here is not in legal aspects. He is not a national leader and he does not have a rating, but his persecution by power is an excellent occasion to mobilize all dissatisfied in our country. Apparently, he thinks more about the realization of his political ambitions in Ukraine, but about international activities. And this creates certain difficulties in the Ukrainian authorities to discredit Saakashvili. On the other hand, it remains an epicenter of protest moods. Therefore, it seems to me that people from the minibus did not free Saakashvili personally, with whom the authorities were unfairly received, and his liberation was a protest against the current president. This is the unusual situation. We have not had this before. And the second important point is associated with the quick transition of protesters, those who opponize the authorities and protect Saakashvili, from words to business. During the Euromaidan, in 2014, it took at least a month and a half to swing the situation, until the clashes between demonstrators and security officials began. Now everything is happening very quickly. Why? Because the values of the Maidan were connected with the experience of those who were participants in the ATO in the Donbass. What will happen next? I think that the authorities set the task of the security forces by any means to remove the tent camp near the Rada and get rid of Saakashvili. I hope that they will not go to some tragic steps, but the fact that the next attempt to get rid of Saakashvili will be associated with some kind of grand provocation is there in this doubt. And in this case, we will be ashamed to all of Europe.
On December 5, Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko said that for the money of the Ukrainian oligarch Sergei Kurchenko Saakashvili, who fled after Euromaidan to Moscow, he financed protest shares, the purpose of which was to seize power and restore the controls of persons close to Yanukovych over their assets. At the same time, the Prosecutor General released an audio recording of a man’s telephone conversation with a voice similar to the voice of Saakashvili, supposedly with Kurchenko. Victor Nebuzhenko continues:
-Even if the leader of the RNS had some contacts with Moscow, now they do not pay attention to this, because, firstly, the sources of such information themselves do not enjoy trust in society. The president does not have people who would trust society and listen to their opinion. And this is a very serious problem. Therefore, even if there is something and somewhere, I do not protect Saakashvili, but they do not believe these people. Neither, for example, to the prosecutor general of Lutsenko, nor the head of the parliamentary faction of "Petro Poroshenko Bloc" Arthur Gerasimov. I recall that when many years ago, professionals of one political force tried to discredit Viktor Yushchenko (third president of Ukraine. - RS) , then they came up with then that his son drives a car with diamonds in wheels. Of course, it was a lie, but this information very powerfully hit Yushchenko’s rating. As for the compromising evidence of Lutsenko on Saakashvili from the point of view of political technology, both the source and the content of the information are unsuccessful. Some Kurchenko, who clearly does not like Saakashvili, allegedly handed him 500 thousand dollars. If they said-$ 25 million, this would somehow correlate with goals. I do not understand technical fakes, but this is an extremely unsuccessful plot chosen by the authorities. Therefore, there will be no development of this story.
As political analyst Petr Oleshchuk notes, having put forward serious accusations against the former President of Georgia, the authorities can no longer implement their initial scenario, which suggested the deportation of Saakashvili from Ukraine:
- With its actions, power stepped on its throat. On the one hand, it is charged with Saakashvili’s serious accusations, which means that it is no longer possible to take and deport it from the country, since it is accused of preparing a coup. This will be a complete discredit of power if they deport it. But, on the other hand, I do not see a judicial perspective in this case, it is problematic to prove the accusations that are based on some recordings of telephone conversations. The authorities seem to have drove themselves to a dead end. Having published these audio recordings, the Prosecutor General’s Office pursued primarily the goal of discrediting their political opponent.
- You say that such actions of the authorities will significantly raise the Saakashvili rating. How can the former Georgian leader use this, who has no right to run either to the Verkhovna Rada or the post of head of state?
-Saakashvili cannot run, but he can support someone. There is serious competition among Ukrainian opposition. Different politicians seek to get the status of the main opposition. And, accordingly, if someone publicly supports Saakashvili, then this can serve as the basis for the fact that it is this oppositionist that will receive a certain political weight and gradually will be able to concert the necessary political influence in order to go to the polls as solely as a key opposition candidate.
-The ex-president of Georgia can support the former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who has already announced that she would fight for the presidential chair in future elections?
- Yes, maybe Tymoshenko. This is the most obvious candidate. But here the question is what motivation to Saakashvili will support it. This may be the result of difficult negotiations and trading. But, of course, this option cannot be excluded. If the Tymoshenko -Saakashvili alliance will take place and, for example, the leader of the Fatherland will announce that in the event of her victory in the election, the post of prime minister will take Saakashvili, this can help Tymoshenko to go beyond its traditional electoral niche, that is, fill it out due to the oscillating electorate, which is skeptical of Timoshenko, but perceives positively Saakashvili, ”says political scientist Petr Oleshchuk.
On Wednesday, President Petro Poroshenko during a visit to the Yavorivsky training ground near Lviv on the occasion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the first time commented on the situation around the leader of the Rukh of the New Forces. Having emphasized that the events of December 5 “shocked and shocked”, the head of state said: “The authorities respect the right of citizens to a peaceful protest, but will give a decisive rebuff to all those who undermine from the inside, destabilizing the situation in the country, receiving financing from Moscow.”