Saakashvili spoke in Tbilisi court

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili spoke on November 29 at the Tbilisi City Court. His appeal broadcast channel Mtavari. The ex-president greeted those who support him in Ukraine.

“I want to welcome my fellow citizens to Ukraine. I miss you very much. I want you to know that I was tortured and treated inhumanly. But I’m holding on. And I learned this in Ukraine. I am very grateful to you, ”Saakashvili said.

According to Saakashvili, under the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, he was twice offered to take the post of prime minister, but he refused. “All for the sake of returning to Georgia, which I love to madness, and where there was a real threat of my physical liquidation,” the ex-president said.

He added that he met with Georgian emigrants in different countries. They talked about the hard life in their homeland, which “is losing its independence and is gradually coming under the control of Russia.”

“During my presidency, the lives of ordinary people were much better than they are now. This also applies to the exchange rate of the national currency and unemployment. It is a tragedy when crowds of Georgians go from Georgia to seasonal work in Poland. In recent years, almost 700 thousand citizens have emigrated from Georgia. This is a tragedy that is happening before our eyes. I could not sit in Kiev and watch my country falling apart, “Saakashvili stressed. quotes Georgia Online.

According to Saakashvili, during his presidency “the economy quadrupled, prices were low, the country was visited by US presidents and dignitaries from Europe.” After the speech, Saakashvili left the meeting room. “The doctors told me that I can only be present for one and a half, two hours,” he explained.

Bek Basilai’s lawyer suggested postponing the hearings, citing doctors’ recommendations and Saakashvili’s health undermined by the hunger strike. However, the panel of judges decided to continue the process without a defendant.

In Georgia, five criminal cases have been opened against Saakashvili, including abuse of authority and embezzlement. In two of them, he was previously found guilty in absentia. The ex-president called the sentences against himself fabricated, in particular, by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Georgian prosecutor’s office noted that Saakashvili faces at least six years in prison.

In early October, it became known that Mikhail Saakashvili had secretly returned to Georgia shortly before the municipal elections. This is his first visit to the country in eight years. On the evening of October 1, he was arrested in Tbilisi and sent to a prison in Rustavi. A new criminal case on illegal border crossing was opened against him.

Immediately after the arrest, Saakashvili went on a hunger strike, which continued 50 days. During this time, his condition worsened significantly, and doctors asked to transfer the opposition leader to a civil multidisciplinary clinic. Saakashvili himself said that he could be killed in a prison hospital.

On November 18, Saakashvili fainted at a meeting with lawyers. The ex-president was carried away on a stretcher and put in the intensive care unit of the prison hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

After Saakashvili’s hunger strike, he is being rehabilitated at a military hospital in the city of Gori. The institution was taken under increased protection by the military police of the Ministry of Defense and employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.