Ukraine deports opposition's Saakashvili to Poland amid feud

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Former Georgian President-turned-Ukrainian opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili was deported to Poland on Monday, the latest development in a months-long political saga pitting him against the Ukrainian government.

Saakashvili has been accused of fomenting a coup against Kiev with Russian help and is also wanted in Georgia on embezzlement charges.

What happened?

Witnesses told reporters that Saakashvili, 50, was taken on Monday by masked men while at a restaurant in Kiev.

Poland’s border service confirmed he was now in Poland.

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili (2nd R) reacts after his release at a court hearing in Kiev, Ukraine, December 11, 2017. /VCG Photo

Security footage posted on Saakashvili’s official Facebook page showed a dozen men – some wearing camouflage – rush into a restaurant, wrestle a man in a sand-colored jacket and black trousers to the ground, then lead him out.

"It was a kidnapping, illegal one,” Saakashvili later said in a video interview posted on Twitter by a reporter from Polish radio RMF FM.

"I was very nicely met by (the) Polish side, and (the) Ukrainian side was absolutely outrageous, totally lawless," he added.

Why Poland?

A spokesman for the Ukrainian border service said Saakashvili had been in the country “illegally.”

“Therefore, in compliance with all legal procedures, he was returned to the country from where he arrived," Oleh Slobodyan wrote in a post on Facebook.

Last September, Saakashvili and his supporters forced themselves into Ukraine through a border crossing with Poland, after he was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by President Petro Poroshenko.

Who is Saakashvili?

President of Georgia from 2004 to 2013, Saakashvili is credited with introducing pro-Western and anti-corruption reforms and pulling his country away from Russian influence, even fighting a short war with Moscow in 2008, which Georgia lost.

Later accused of abuse of power, Saakashvili went into exile in 2015 and was awarded Ukrainian citizenship by his friend Poroshenko, who also appointed him governor of the Ukrainian port city of Odessa on the Black Sea.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (front L) gestures as he speaks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (front R) during a ceremony in Kiev, October 9, 2017. /VCG Photo

In the process, Saakashvili was stripped of his Georgian citizenship.

Following a fallout with Poroshenko, Saakashvili’s Ukrainian citizenship was also revoked last year while he was abroad, leaving him stateless and leading him to force his way back into the country.

Saakashvili has accused his former friend of corruption and has called for the Ukrainian president’s ouster.

At the same time, he has been accused of assisting criminal groups in Ukraine and was arrested on two occasions in December – including one where he was dramatically freed from a police van by hundreds of his supporters.

Saakashvili also faces accusations of embezzlement in his native Georgia.

Protests

Following Saakashvili’s deportation on Monday, over 100 of his supporters rallied in front of Poroshenko’s office in Kiev, chanting “Poroshenko must resign!” and carrying banners that read “Let Saakashvili go free!”

Supporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili hold a banner reading "Poroshenko, release Saakashvili!" in front of the president's office in Kiev, Ukraine, February 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt slammed Kiev’s move on Twitter, saying: “Depriving Saakashvili of his only citizenship was a clear violation of his human rights. Forcible (sic) deporting him makes things even worse.”

Saakashvili however appeared undeterred. In the RMF FM video, he said: "I love Poland but my fight is in Ukraine and Georgia, and I'll fight till the end."

"We'll be fine, we will win that battle," he added, flashing a victory sign.

(With input from agencies)

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