During a courtroom appearance, Georgia's imprisoned ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili spoke on Russia's invasion and bombing of Ukraine.
"Putin has started a war against Ukraine with the goal of abolishing the state of Ukraine," Saakashvili stated, adding that "this will be followed by the annexation of Georgia without opposition and the restoration of the Russian empire."
"At least now the last person out there [thinking otherwise] should have been convinced that whatever I could have done in 2008, even if I hadn't moved a finger, informed the world, or fired any bullets, the aggressor didn't need any excuses to invade," Saakashvili responded to critics of his handling of the August 2008 Russo-Georgian War.
According to Saakashvili, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tried everything he could to avoid responding to "Russian provocations," but it was ineffective.
Earlier, former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili asked the President of the Republic Salome Zourabichvili to remove the secrecy stamp from the expenses that were made by the Special State Protection Service after he left his old post.
“I do not need a pardon, because I did not violate the law and all the charges against me and the sentences handed down are fabricated,” the appeal says. “Remove the secrecy stamp from the expenses made by the Special State Security Service for the presidential administration in 2013 and beyond.”
Saakashvili noted that he, as well as the former head of the presidential administration, Temur Janashia, are accused of inappropriate spending. The ex-president believes that the spending was made in accordance with regulations and continued after Saakashvili ceased to lead the country.
Moreover, during a court hearing on the charge of exceeding power during the November 7, 2007, crackdown on anti-government protesters, Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's imprisoned ex-president, launched a "full, permanent hunger strike."
Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili said that his choice was motivated by the Georgian Dream government's treatment of him and the "people."
He argued that the Georgian prison system cannot offer proper medical care for conditions he suffered during his initial 50-day hunger strike, citing the opinions of a committee of specialists organised by the Public Defender and the Empathy, a rehabilitation facility for torture victims.
