Saakashvili Says Developing Plan in Prison to Pull Georgia Out of Crisis

TBILISI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2022) Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is serving time in a Tbilisi prison after illegal border crossing, said at a court hearing on Thursday that he is developing a five-year plan to lift the country out of economic crisis and poverty, which he claims are caused by the current Georgian authorities.

"I am developing a plan to save the country, to get it out of crisis and poverty. The plan is aimed at returning Georgia to the development status within five years. I know how it should be done, unlike the (current) authorities," Saakashvili said.

The former president repeatedly said that after the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party, led by former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, came to power, Georgia was plunged into an economic crisis that led to an increase in the number of poor and poverty stricken people, deterioration of social services, unemployment and absence of any economic and tourist development.

"Everything that is done in this country, everything that has not been spoiled so far, has been done by me. Unlike you, I graduated from four universities. I do not respect Ivanishvili's court," the politician added.

Saakashvili was detained in Georgia on October 1, 2021. The former president was convicted in absentia for trying to cover up evidence about the murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and for assaulting opposition lawmaker Valery Gelashvili. Saakashvili was sentenced to nine years in jail in total. Apart from that, the ex-president is defendant in cases concerning the dispersal of an opposition rally on November 7, 2007, the Imedi Media Holding raid, and embezzlement. These cases are still being reviewed in the courts. Incumbent Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that Saakashvili would serve the entire sentence, while the defendant sees himself as a political prisoner.