Tbilisi, Oct. 1, LETA – RL / DPA. Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested on Friday after returning to the country, Georgian Prime Minister Heraklion Garibashvili said.
According to the prime minister, Saakashvili has already been taken to prison.
“Our law enforcement agencies already had information about his movements – from Ukraine to Georgia. This process was fully controlled,” Garibashvili told in a special briefing.
An arrest warrant for Saakashvili was issued in Georgia.
“I would like to inform the people that the search for Georgia’s third president has been arrested,” the prime minister told Georgian television.
The video, shown on television, shows Saakashvili being transferred to prison. Saakashvili, who also has Ukrainian citizenship, the video shows a laugh.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed “concern over the news [no Tbilisi] and the tone of the statement, “Zelensky, a spokesman for the press, told Facebook.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has invited the Ambassador of Georgia to the talks.
Garibashvili initially said nothing about where Saakashvili was detained.
Saakashvili had previously announced that he had arrived in the Black Sea coastal city of Batumi.
“I risked my life and my freedom to return,” the president explained on Facebook.
He had originally planned to arrive in Tbilisi on Saturday night by plane.
Following this statement, the authorities threatened to arrest Saakashvili.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on Friday urged to prevent further unrest and called on Georgians to remain calm.
Saakashvili has returned to Georgia ahead of the October 2 municipal elections.
He was indicted in Georgia on charges of abuse of office. Saakashvili, 53, denies the allegations, calling them politically motivated.
Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013 after the end of his second term. In recent years, he has lived in Ukraine, where he has held various high-ranking positions and currently chairs the Ukraine Reform Executive Committee.
Georgia plunged into political chaos last year after the parliamentary elections, in which the ruling party “Georgia’s Dream” won by a small majority. The opposition claims that the election results have been falsified.
In May, a cross-party agreement was reached between European Council President Charles Michel, in which the “Georgia Dream” promised to hold early parliamentary elections if the municipal elections received less than 43% of the vote on Saturday. However, in July, the ruling party left the agreement unilaterally, provoking sharp criticism from the European Union (EU) and the United States.
Saakashvili announced his intention to return to Georgia on Monday.
Garibashvili immediately announced that Saakashvili would be detained if he arrived in Georgia.
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