Zelensky ordered to expel Georgian ambassador from Kyiv in response to Saakashvili's trial
He called on partners not to ignore the situation and "save this man"
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has reacted to the publication of footage of Mikheil Saakashvili's speech in court via video link. The ex-president of Georgia looks painfully thin and exhausted.
Zelensky called on the Georgian authorities to stop "mocking" Saakashvili and allow him to leave for Ukraine, of which he is a citizen. The former Georgian president is on trial in the case of dispersing a rally in 2007.
Zelensky instructed the Foreign Ministry to summon the Georgian ambassador to Kyiv and protest the situation with Saakashvili.
Zelensky also instructed the Foreign Ministry to invite the ambassador to leave Ukraine within 48 hours for consultations.
"Right now, Russia is killing Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili with the hands of the Georgian authorities. We have repeatedly called on the official Tbilisi to stop this mockery and agree on Saakashvili's return to Ukraine. Our partners in coordination with Ukraine have also offered various options for rescue. Today, I instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the Georgian ambassador to Ukraine, express a strong protest to him and offer him to leave Ukraine within 48 hours to hold consultations with his capital," he wrote on his telegram channel on Monday.
"I once again call on the Georgian authorities to hand over Ukrainian citizen Saakashvili to Ukraine for the necessary treatment and care. And I call on our partners to address this situation and save this man. No government in Europe has the right to execute people, life is a basic European value," he emphasized.
Mikheil Saakashvili's brother David said that his relative's condition is the result of the conditions in which he was held for many months. He also suggested that his brother could have been poisoned and is "heading for death."
Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested in 2021 upon his return to Georgia. By May 2022, the former president's health was so bad that he was transferred to a hospital. Among the diagnoses given to the politician were dementia and "intoxication of the body," and he lost more than 40 kg.
Saakashvili previously claimed that he was poisoned in prison in March, and asked Bellingcat journalist Khrist Grozev to investigate the poisoning.
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