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Jailed Saakashvili urges supporters to vote in local elections; his life depends on it
TBILISI. Oct 29 (Interfax) – Georgia’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili, in his latest message to supporters from the Rustavi prison, said that their votes in Saturday’s elections was a matter of life or death for him.
On October 30, twenty out of 64 municipalities will hold the second round of local elections.
"Whether I live or die depends on every one of you, your vote and your participation in the elections. Whatever decision you make, I still love you, I love my country immeasurably," Saakashvili said.
He stressed that he had no desire to hold any public office and simply wanted to serve Georgia.
Saakashvili also said that Georgian authorities were fearful that a trial against him would let people hear his voice.
Saakashvili, former Georgian president and currently a citizen of Ukraine, secretly arrived in Georgia from Ukraine on September 29. He was detained in Tbilisi on October 1 and is currently being held in a Rustavi prison.
Georgia earlier declared Saakashvili wanted as a person convicted in absentia in several criminal cases and treated as a suspect in some others. The Georgian authorities warned repeatedly that he would be detained immediately after he crossed the border. Saakashvili has described his detention as unlawful and the charges brought against him as falsified.
