Georgian police on Friday arrested ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia after the opposition politician returned to the country despite facing imprisonment and called for post-election street protests this weekend.
Saakashvili, who had been living in Ukraine and was sentenced in absentia in Georgia in 2018, announced this week he would fly home for Saturday's local elections in order to help "save the country".On Friday, he said on social media that he had secretly returned to Georgia and told his supporters to vote for the opposition and to rally in the heart of the capital Tbilisi afterwards on Sunday.
Garibashvili had warned that the 53-year-old would be arrested if he returned. Saakashvili was convicted in absentia of abuse of power and covering up evidence in two court cases in 2018 that he has called politically motivated. The local elections in the country of less than four million people feature an array of votes including one for the mayor of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
There were no immediate signs of protests after his arrest. But the United National Movement party told supporters to focus on the vote and that it would announce its further plans on Saturday. He called on his supporters to vote for United National Movement or for any small party that opposes Georgian Dream.
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