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"The ever-grotesque situation in Ukraine took another nose dive into farce today as Mikhail Saakashvili, ex-president of Georgia and governor of Odessa, climbed to the roof of his eight storey apartment building in Kiev and threatened to jump – for no very obvious reason"
Saakashvili freed by supporters from police van in Kiev, calls to oust President Poroshenko
RT,
5
December, 2017
The
ex-president of Georgia turned Ukrainian opposition leader has called
on his supporters to topple the current Ukrainian leader and his
“gang.” Earlier, protesters freed Saakashvili, who currently has
no valid citizenship, from the police van taking him in for
questioning.
Saakashvili’s
supporters broke the rear door of the van he was being
transported in. The protesters took Saakashvili to a nearby church,
where he addressed the crowd. The opposition leader called on the
protesters to take to the infamous Maidan Square and topple incumbent
Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko and his “gang.”
“I
will lay down my life for Ukraine’s freedom. I want to call on all
the Kievans to take to the streets today, to gather in Maidan and
start the process of deliverance of Petro Poroshenko and his gang
from Ukraine,” Saakashvili
said addressing the crowd.
As
the politician finished his anti-government speech, the protesters
started marching through the streets of the Ukrainian capital.
Police
officers use tear gas against supporters of Georgian former President
Mikheil Saakashvili during clashes in Kiev, Ukraine December 5, 2017.
© Gleb Garanich / Reuters
After
the march, crowds gathered in front of the Ukrainian parliament
building, where Saakashvili spoke in front of his supporters. The
leader of Ukrainian opposition party ‘Movement of New Forces’
reiterated the call to impeach the Ukrainian president and take to
the streets “to
continue peaceful protest.” He
also said that the evening rally should gather more people than
before, claiming that there were 50,000 at the previous
demonstration. In recent months, the opposition leader has been
organizing protests in the country, targeting mainly his former
friend and ally Petro Poroshenko.
The
standoff between the protesters and Ukrainian security forces lasted
for several hours, leaving several people injured, before
Saakashvili’s forced release. On Tuesday morning, the former
Georgian president went on the roof of his apartment building in Kiev
and threatened to jump off, while security forces searched his
apartment. After the opposition activist was detained, supporters
started blocking the nearby streets with tires, stones, bins, and
cars to prevent police from taking Saakashvili to a detention
facility.
The
police van became stuck in the crowd, and protests smashed the
front window. Ukrainian security forces used tear gas and deployed
more officers to the site in attempt to clear the way. The protesters
tried to break the police cordon and used what appears to be pepper
spray against the officers.
Georgian
former President Mikheil Saakashvili struggles out of a police car in
Kiev, Ukraine December 5, 2017. © Oleh Tereshchenko / Reuters
Ukraine’s
Prosecutor General, Yury Lutsenko, announced that Saakashvili has 24
hours to appear before an investigator and then in court. Otherwise,
“Ukraine’s
entire law enforcement system”
will do anything to detain the stateless politician, Lutsenko said,
speaking at the parliament on Tuesday.
Lutsenko
stated that Kiev would “try
to avoid”
any violence, and that Saakashvili’s submission “would
spare the country of needless convulsions.”
He also accused Saakashvili of involvement in “financial
fraud including with oligarchs from Moscow,”
and claimed that the politician’s supporters now protesting in Kiev
“perform
Moscow’s script.”
Kiev,
Ukraine December 5, 2017. © Gleb Garanich / Reuters
Ukrainian
security forces want to question the out-of-favor politician on
suspicion of assisting criminals and concealing their criminal
activities.
© Valentyn
Ogirenko / Reuters
Saakashvili
was the president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013, before leaving his
native country while facing a number of criminal charges, including
abuse of power. In 2015, he gave up Georgian citizenship and accepted
an offer to become a governor in Ukraine; however, his new Ukrainian
citizenship has also been removed, with authorities citing false
information in his application. Earlier this year, Saakashvili
illegally crossed into Ukraine.
The
politician was once a close ally of current Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko, who granted him citizenship and appointed him as governor
of Odessa Region. The friendship did not last long, however, with
Saakashvili resigning in November 2016 to create his own political
party called ‘Movement of New Forces.’ The governor turned
opposition leader accuses the Ukrainian authorities, and Poroshenko
in particular, of corruption and “robbing” the
country.
Kiev,
Ukraine December 5, 2017. © Gleb Garanich / Reuters
Poroshenko
personally stripped him of his new citizenship. Since then, the
former president of Georgia has organized anti-government rallies in
Ukraine, calling for the impeachment of the Ukrainian leader. His
native Georgia is also demanding his extradition on charges of
corruption. Kiev has refused to comply with the request, according to
the Ukrainian Prosecutor General.
Kiev,
Ukraine December 5, 2017. © Gleb Garanich
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