Supporters free Saakashvili from Ukraine police

World
Europe

A mob of supporters broke former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili out of a police van Tuesday in Kiev, after he was detained for alleged links to a criminal organization.

The dramatic showdown between hundreds of Saakashvili supporters and the Ukrainian authorities followed a long-running feud with President Petro Poroshenko.

Masked officers dragged Saakashvili, 49, from an apartment in the Ukrainian capital Tuesday morning.

But his supporters prevented the police van from moving off, hemming it in and eventually freeing him by breaking its windows and back door.

Georgian former President Mikheil Saakashvili struggles out of a police car in Kiev, Ukraine, December 5, 2017. /Reuters Photo

After emerging from the van with a handcuff on one hand, Saakashvili led protesters towards parliament, where he called defiantly for Poroshenko to be removed from office.

"There are millions of us, we are very strong," he said.

"The people of Ukraine must assemble and force the Ukrainian parliament to remove from power the criminal group led by the traitor to Ukraine, Poroshenko."

Ukrainian prosecutors suspect Saakashvili of receiving financing from a criminal group linked to former president Viktor Yanukovich which planned to overthrow the current government.

General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko said he now had a 24-hour deadline to present himself to the state security service.

Ukrainian National Guard officers guard a car carrying former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili onboard during clashes with his supporters in Kiev, Ukraine, December 5, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Saakashvili could face up to five years if found guilty. He is also wanted in Georgia on criminal charges which he says were trumped up for political reasons.

The former Georgian president was invited by Poroshenko to become a regional governor in Ukraine in 2015 and was awarded Ukrainian citizenship.

The two however fell out over Saakashvili’s accusations that Kiev was failing to make good on the fight against corruption, and in July Poroshenko stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship, leaving him stateless.

Saakashvili has now led protests against the government since October.

Police officers use tear gas against supporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili during clashes in Kiev, Ukraine, December 5, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Addressing his supporters from the roof of his building on Tuesday, after police raided his flat, Saakashvili accused Poroshenko of being a thief and "a traitor to the people of Ukraine."

"I call on all decent Ukrainians to take to the streets and drive out these thieves... I call on Ukrainians not to allow me to be abducted, I appeal to the people of Kiev not to allow lawlessness."

Saakashvili's supporters see him as a fearless crusader against corruption and Saakashvili is credited with pushing through pro-Western reforms in his native Georgia which he led from 2004 to 2013.

But his time in office was tarnished by what critics said was his attempts to monopolize power and exert pressure on the judiciary.

6461km

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters