At a special briefing, Irakli Garibashvili, Georgia’s prime minister, announced that former President Mikhail Saakashvili had been detained.
“I want to inform the public that Georgia’s third president who was on the wanted list, Mikhail Saakashvili, has been detained. He has been transferred to a penitentiary. Our law enforcers at the highest level carried out an action to detain Mikhail Saakashvili,” said Garibashvili.
According to the Prime Minister, law enforcement agencies had received information in advance about Saakashvili’s relocation from Ukraine.
“This process was under full control,” said Garibashvili. “Appropriate measures were taken, the agencies worked in a coordinated manner, time and place were chosen so that factors that could interfere with the detention were minimal.”
On October 1, Saakashvili announced on Facebook that he had returned to Georgia. At the same time, the press service of the Georgian Interior Ministry assured that the former president had not crossed the border.
Earlier, Mikhail Saakashvili also wrote on his Facebook page that “the vote for the Dream party will be like signing of the death penalty for Georgia” and urged people to go to elections on October 2 to “save Georgia” and on October 3 to march in columns from all Georgia to Tbilisi to “protect election results.” Saakashvili promised to join one of the columns.
Saakashvili served two consecutive terms as president of Georgia from 2004-2013. He was one of the leaders of the Rose Revolution.
Two criminal cases have been opened against Mikhail Saakashvili in Georgia, and in two more, he has already been sentenced. Among other things, the former president was sentenced to three years in prison for abuse of power.
belsat.eu
