And they refused to take him to court
The deadline for former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili may increase. Today, November 10, Tbilisi City Court resumed criminal proceedings on the brutal dissolution of the opposition rally on November 7, 2007 and the pogrom in the Imedi TV building. Saakashvili is accused in this case, but was not present in court: the administration of the prison hospital where he is now refused to take him to court.
Photo: AP
The administration motivated its decision on the one hand by fears of “destructive actions” of ex-president supporters and on the other by fears about his health. After showing scandalous shots of the “starving” Saakashvili drinking juices and eating nutritious puree from glasses, he again refused to help doctors from drugs, tests and transfusions since Saturday. And now his situation is critical, as assured by the entire progressive community in Kiev, Warsaw and Vilnius.
Of course, many people felt déjà vu from this report. After all, Saakashvili has already refused the help of doctors, tests or drugs. And it was not so long ago: on October 29, on the eve of the second round of municipal elections. Recall that at that time the ex-president told Georgian voters that his life depended on their choice. This means that if they do not vote for the United National Movement, then everyone is fucked. Saakashvili will continue to give up everything out of grief until his death ends. But on October 30, election day, the ex-president was eager to eat something from a can on a video released by the Ministry of Justice. Meanwhile, some naive people have voted for the UNM, convinced that its leader is on the verge of life and death.
But maybe Saakashvili wasn't kidding this time? On November 8, he was transferred from Rustavi to Gldani Prison Hospital in Tbilisi. It was probably caused by his condition deteriorating. But the prisoner himself, his lawyers and relatives expected something completely different. They tried to transfer Saakashvili to a private clinic (from which, by the way, it would be very easy to escape). But the famous Gldani Prison is not a convenient place for a former president. This is probably the worst place in the world for him right now. The fact is that under Saakashvili, this prison was “famous” for torturing prisoners. In particular, they were raped there – as part of a campaign to “expose” criminal bosses. Scary footage from this prison in 2012 cost the UNM and Saakashvili himself.
And now Saakashvili is in that prison. He now has the opportunity to communicate with people, to find out what they think of him. And the dialogue seems to have begun: Saakashvili told his lawyers about the “warm” welcome given to him by the ancient inhabitants of Gldani. The prisoners greeted him with noise, insulting cries and threats. In this context, comrades-in-arms are now worried about his life. However, the authorities assure that there is no threat to Saakashvili: he is on a separate ward and there are no other prisoners in the rooms around him.
Saakashvili's supporters held several rallies in the capital in various places in the morning: near the buildings of the State Security, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health, at the beginning of the trial they had all moved to the courthouse. Any attempts to block the entrances to the administrative buildings were severely suppressed by the police, 46 people were detained.
The Georgian authorities are thus proving their intention not to break the law on the one hand and hardship on the other hand if necessary. I don't think he will lose control of the situation and stop any attempt to implement the force scenario. At the same time, their opponents today can only hope for a coup, a color revolution, etc. They would have been happy to realize all this for a long time, but as recent events have shown, they do not have the necessary public support to do so. Their gatherings are few, even on a Georgian scale. Even if Saakashvili's arrest did not take crowds of indignant people to the streets, it remains to be acknowledged that there is no revolutionary situation in Georgia today and that the ex-president himself is not nearly as popular in his homeland as his fans. the Russian liberals want to convince us of that.
What will happen? Saakashvili will get another term and maybe more. We will see whether he will eventually be the same for 6 years or whether the time he has to spend in prison will be extended. The “Georgian dream” will calmly rule the country and the few UNM supporters will gather hopelessly in the streets.