October 1, 2021
TBILISI (Reuters) -Georgian law enforcement officers have detained former president and opposition politician Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia, TASS news agency cited Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili as saying on Friday on the eve of local elections.
Saakashvili, who has been living in Ukraine, announced plans this week to fly home for Saturday’s vote, despite him being sentenced to prison in absentia in Georgia, in order to help “save the country” and called for post-election street protests.
Garibashvili had said that Saakashvili would be arrested if he returned.
On Friday, Saakashvili told his supporters on social media that he was back in Georgia and urged them to vote for the opposition and to rally in the heart of the capital Tbilisi afterwards on Sunday.
He then posted a video filmed at night from what he said was the Georgian city of Batumi and called on his supporters to vote for United National Movement, the party he founded, or for any small party who opposes the ruling Georgian Dream party.
“Everyone must go to the polls and vote, and on October 3 we must fill the Freedom Square. If there are 100,000 people, no one can defeat us,” he posted in the video.
“You see – I risked everything – my life, freedom, everything, in order to come here. I want only one thing from you – go to the polls,” he said.
The ruling party had said it was untrue that he had returned, but late on Friday the prime minister said Saakashvili had been detained and handed over to a detention facility.
Saakashvili, who led Georgia’s Rose Revolution in 2003, considers the charges on which he was convicted in absentia in two court cases to be politically motivated.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Alison Williams)
Source Link Georgian ex-leader detained after returning ahead of local election
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