Mikheil Saakashvili was detained in Georgia • The Bell • RIMA — Russian Independent Media Archive

Date

10/01/2021

Author

Кирилл Буланов

Source

The Bell

Preserved copy

Internet Archive

Translated material

Mikheil Saakashvili was detained in Georgia

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been detained in the country. This was stated at a press conference by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, reports the local newspaper "Georgia Online".

According to him, the entire route of Saakashvili's movement was under the control of the Georgian special services. Now the ex-president has been placed in a "penitentiary institution," he noted ( quote from "Georgian News").

The Georgian Interior Ministry released a video confirming the detention of Saakashvili. It shows how the police take the ex-president out of the car and into the building. on Facebook At the same time, Saakashvili's video message appeared . “It is very likely that I will be detained in Tbilisi now, but I must say that you should not be afraid of anything. Come to the elections tomorrow, vote and on the 3rd [October] we will all celebrate the victory together. I am very strong and confident. I have come to help you,” it says.

Later, the Georgian prosecutor's office reported that Saakashvili became a defendant in a new criminal case related to illegal border crossing.

Saakashvili made no secret of his plans to fly to Georgia. On September 28, he wrote on Facebook that he had bought a plane ticket and that in October - during the election period - he would be in the country. On the morning of October 1, Saakashvili announced that he had arrived in Georgia for the first time in eight years, and later published a video message in which he said that he was in Batumi. He called on Georgian citizens to come to the elections, which are to be held on October 2, and then go to Freedom Square in Tbilisi.
Saakashvili served as president in 2008-2013. After losing the election, he left Georgia. Four criminal cases were brought against him, in two of them he was sentenced to six and three years in prison, respectively. In 2015, he was deprived of Georgian citizenship. The ex-president heads the executive committee of the National Reform Council in Ukraine.