Former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili described the attitude of protest participants towards his imprisonment as "remarkable and paradoxical," reports Tengrinews.kz citing "News-Georgia."
"You know what surprises me? The people who demand the release of political prisoners, who fight for freedom of speech, justify my unjust imprisonment, either turning a blind eye to it or, conversely, demanding even stricter imprisonment, and they have a categorical allergy when I express my opinion. Isn't that remarkable and paradoxical?" - he stated while speaking at a court hearing on Friday.
Saakashvili participated in the process remotely from the "Vivamed" clinic, where he was transferred from prison due to deteriorating health after a prolonged hunger strike in the spring of 2022.
Saakashvili expressed confidence that he could play a significant role in the current protests without hindering the unity of the opposition.
"The unity of the opposition is very important. Opposition unity is not a beauty contest of individual politicians. Of course, it is unity around our people. In these actions, a new Georgia has almost been born, and those who wish to see me behind bars do not understand that if I were standing here and had the honor to be among you in the streets of Tbilisi, Batumi, Zugdidi, Kutaisi, I would have helped you much earlier and everything would have remained peaceful, because I have experience in this, probably the greatest experience," - said the politician.
He added that, despite the demonstrators' attitude towards him, he "bows to the courage of each of them."
"I also sacrificed myself so that Georgia could stand on its feet. I have always looked positively towards the future of Georgia," - stated the third president of Georgia.
Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013 after completing his presidential term. The new "Georgian Dream" government initiated four criminal cases against him. In two of them, he was sentenced in absentia to three and six years in prison. The other two cases (related to the embezzlement of state funds amounting to about nine million lari and the dispersal of a protest on November 7, 2007) are still under consideration.
In October 2021, Saakashvili secretly returned to Georgia from Ukraine, where he had been working in the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky. He was then arrested and charged with illegal border crossing.
While in Ukraine, Saakashvili actively participated in Georgia's political life: he regularly appeared on Georgian television, recorded addresses on social media, and gathered thousands of meetings with emigrants. Today, his only opportunity to address the public is through rare appearances during court hearings.
In the opposition camp, opinions about Saakashvili are mixed: for some, he remains a symbol of reforms, while for others, he is a politician whose return complicates the struggle against the current government. The fifth president of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili refused to pardon Saakashvili.