TBILISI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd October, 2021) The arrest of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, now a Ukrainian national who briefly served as the governor of Ukraine's Odessa region, will not hurt ties between the two countries, the speaker of the Georgian parliament said.
Saakashvili was arrested in Georgia on Friday. Georgia is holding local elections on Saturday.
"Nothing will destabilize the brotherly relationship between Georgia and Ukraine... The arrest of the United National Movement leader demonstrates that there is no place for provocations in Georgia," Kakha Kuchava told reporters on Saturday morning.
Saakashvili, who served as president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013, returned from his self-imposed exile from the former Soviet republic and was promptly arrested for his suspected role in the murder of a banker and an assault on a member of the Georgian parliament.
He is also under investigation for ordering crackdown on an opposition rally in 2007 and embezzling public funds. The 53-year-old says all charges against him are politically motivated.
