This happened on the eve of the local elections, which could be very important for the political situation in the country.
Former Georgian President and opposition politician Mikheil Saakashvili has been arrested after returning to his homeland. This was announced today by the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili, on the eve of the local elections, which may be very important for the political situation in the country, world agencies reported. The prime minister clarified that Saakashvili was sent to prison in the city of Rustavi, a few tens of kilometers from the capital Tbilisi.
Earlier in the week, Saakashvili, who lived in Ukraine, announced his intention to return to his homeland for tomorrow’s local elections, although he was threatened with imprisonment for a sentence in absentia. He said he would do so to help “save the country”, and called for post-election street protests.
Garibashvili said if Saakashvili returned, he would be arrested.
Georgian law enforcement agencies have detained Saakashvili in Tbilisi, in an apartment on David Guramishvili Street, Georgian TV Pirveli reported, TASS reported. The former president did not resist the police, according to television.
Earlier in the day, Saakashvili told supporters via social media that he had returned and urged them to vote for the opposition tomorrow and gather for a rally in the center of the capital, Tbilisi, on Sunday.
He then posted a video, shot in the dark, in the Georgian city of Batumi, he said, urging his supporters to vote for the United National Movement he founded or one of the smaller parties opposing the ruling party. A Georgian dream, “Reuters reported.
“Everyone has to go to the polls and vote, and on October 3 we have to fill Freedom Square. If there are 100,000 people, no one can beat us,” he said in the video. “I risked my life and my freedom to return. I just want one of you to go to the polls. “
The ruling party said it was not true that Saakashvili had returned, but tonight the prime minister announced that the former president had been detained and taken into custody.
Saakashvili, who led the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003, said the allegations of abuse of power and cover-up in the two cases in which he was convicted in absentia were politically motivated.
The Georgian prosecutor’s office has announced that the sentences in two criminal cases against Saakashvili handed down by three courts will be final and not subject to appeal.
Ukraine summoned the Georgian ambassador after reports of his detention
Ukraine’s foreign ministry has summoned Georgia’s ambassador to Kiev after announcing the detention of former President and opposition politician Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia, a ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Separately, a spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed concern about the arrest and the “tone” in statements coming from Georgia.
Saakashvili has lived in Ukraine for several years and received Ukrainian citizenship.
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