Oct 9, 2021
(Translation)
My appeal to the international community
I was arrested and incarcerated on October 1st.
The arrest was based on two court sentences which no one in the world recognizes and also on an arrest warrant on two pending cases.
Under the Georgian law any person detained on the basis of an actual and ongoing case shall be promptly brought before court.
I’ve been held for already 9 days without a hearing and my lawyer was just told by the judge on the case, that no hearing is to be expected for weeks to come.
There is an obvious attempt not to allow my public appearance before scheduled second round of elections where almost in every major city my party is neck to neck with Ivanishvili’s party.
I hope you will not allow this extrajudicial captivity case unnoticed.
From Lisa Yasko FB page yesterday:
My second visit to Rustavi jail in Georgia.
Visited Mikheil Saakashvili in jail.
The eighth day of his hunger strike continues: and, unfortunately, his health condition has seriously worsened. Misha lost more than 12 kg of weight.
At the same time, his spirit, as before, is on top: hunger strike is not going to stop!
Mikhail closely follows the events in the world and passes words of support to all his supporters!
Today rallies were held around the world near the embassies of Georgia and the squares of cities in support of Misha.
The international community continues to express concern and condemn the arrest.
As written in their statement by the deputies of the European Parliament Andrius Kubilius and Rasa Jukneviciene, Saakashvili’s case is political. European conservatives demand to release Michael.
A rally in support of Mikhail is taking place near the murívsʹkoí tsi jail.
There are many media representatives.
Protesters wrote on the wall of prison words TAVISUPLEB MISHA – which means Freedom to Misha! Freedom of Saakashvili!
Hunger strike is dangerous for a man in his 50’s. This situation needs to be fixed ASAP, otherwise Ukraine-Georgia relations will take a massive hit.
This is what he posted yesterday:
“When Mikhail Saakashvili became President of Georgia after the Rose Revolution in 2003, he took a principled position towards the former President Shevardnadze. Contrary to revolutionary moods and absolute support of any of his decisions, he stated that respect for presidents is a matter of honor to the nation. He publicly urged his people to respect themselves, guaranteeing the safety of President Shevardnadze and his family. He publicly emphasized the importance of Shevardnadze preventing bloodshed by accepting resignation and peacefully transfer power.
When Saakashvili himself left, he did not try to manipulate the election results and hold his post. He has always considered building modern democracy in Georgia as his main mission and accepted the election results, even when it was not in his favor.
Unfortunately, the regime of oligarch Ivanishvili does not want to part with power. Several elections have been recorded in a row of gross violations and falsification. People’s choice is manipulated, and the results of the will are forgiven. This was probably the main reason Saakashvili decided to return to the country – to defend the choice of people and save democracy in Georgia. Even sacrificing myself for this cause.
This is what President Saakashvili said in 2003 And that’s what is the difference between the real leader of the nation and the gang of thieves who just temporarily seized power in Georgia.
′′ President Shevardnadze made a very worthy decision to resign in order to maintain stability in the country.
Former President of Georgia should be able to stay in his country, he should be fully guaranteed safety, guaranteed adequate living conditions, his family should be safe – it is a matter of honor of our country!
I believe that the President took a very brave step and prevented bloodshed in the country. He took a step that was in the interests of both the country and every Georgian family, and I think history will appreciate it in dignity “, –
Mikhail Saakashvili, Rose Revolution-2003 ©
Saakash unfortunately has a messy private life. Something that he has in common with many other senior politicians of course. He seems to have caused unnecessary distress to his wife, if this extract from wiki is correct:
“Saakashvili is married to Dutch linguist Sandra Roelofs, whom he met in Strasbourg in 1993. The couple have two sons, Eduard and Nikoloz. A few days before Saakashvili’s October 2021 return to Georgia he recorded a video on Facebook with Ukrainian MP Yelyzaveta Yasko in which they disclosed they were having a romantic relationship. A few days later Yasko remarked that Sandra Roelofs was Saakashvili’s “ex-wife”. There had been no media reports that Saakashvili and his spouse Roelofs had divorced. Roelofs had been “caught by surprise” by Yasko’s and Saakashvili’s video announcement and remarked on Facebook (on 7 October 2021) “its form was absolutely unacceptable.”