Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (45) has already demanded his release: Mikheil Saakashvili (55) was the president who brought Georgia closer to Europe and linked his country’s future with the West. He ruled from 2004 to 2013.
► The man who was considered a beacon of democracy in the Caucasus and Putin’s greatest enemy is now in prison. Saakashvili sees himself as a personal prisoner of the Kremlin tyrant Vladimir Putin (70), at whose behest he is being held.
BILD was able to speak exclusively to Mikheil Saakashvili and his mother Giuli Alasania (76). By exchange of letters, because this is the only communication channel possible.
BILD was only able to communicate with the ex-president of Georgia by letter, because he is in prison at the behest of Kremlin tyrant Vladimir Putin (70).
BILD: Mr. Saakashvili, you sharply criticized Putin. Do you think you are a prisoner of the Georgian government on his orders? If yes, is there evidence?
Michel Saakaschwili: “I’m absolutely sure. Putin said he would hang me by the balls, he and Dimitri Medvedev (57, ex-President of Russia, dR) spoke several times about bringing me before the court. They gave my successor Bidzina Ivanishvili, who ran against me, two billion dollars for his election campaign. The first charges were launched when I became governor of Odessa and stopped Russian expansion there. Today Georgia is owned by a Russian oligarch and ruled by a medieval feudal lord.”
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has said the Georgian government is about to assassinate you in public. What impact will this have on the future of Georgia?
Saakashvili: “For Zelenskyi, whom I consider a modern Churchill, this is an important issue. First of all, I am the Chairman of his current Reform Council, my office in the Administration of the President of Ukraine is next to his office. Through my imprisonment, Putin is also sending a signal to Zelenskyy: what awaits him one day if he disobeys him.”
At a joint conference with Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen (79) in Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (45) called for Saakashvili’s release. Photos also showed Saakashvili’s miserable condition
“What My Killing Will Mean”
Saakashvili continued: “For Georgia, my assassination will mean the end of Georgian democracy and sovereignty (…). Sometimes I think the current government wants to start a civil war. They think this is how they can keep their power.”
Your supporters say that you are the private prisoner of your successor, Ivanishvili, at the behest of Russia. What will your captivity bring him?
Saakashvili: “Ivanishvili is connected to Russia by an umbilical cord. He likes the Russian political system. At the same time, he and his puppets accuse the West of sending me to overthrow them – which is utter nonsense. Ivanishvili does not like the great wave of sympathy for me in the West. Also, he is handing Georgia over to Putin, quietly and silently. But the attention around me thwarted that plan.”
Saakashvili continued: “They don’t want me to go back to Ukraine and help Zelenskyy. Putin said he would have me tortured and poisoned. In response to Biden’s visit to Kiev, Maria Zakharova personally said that my detention and difficult situation was a victory for Russia.”
“My death will throw Georgia into chaos”
“If Saakashvili dies in prison, Georgia’s European perspective dies too” – the author of these words is the Polish EU politician Radoslaw Sikorski. Does Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future depend on what will happen to you?
Saakashvili: “The European perspective will not die, but my death will indeed wreak havoc in Georgia.”
Better times: Georgia’s ex-president Saakashvili (55) in 2020
How far will the Georgian government go? Can she risk letting you die?
Saakashvili: “When I left Kiev I weighed 120 kilos, today I weigh 65 kilos. I have terrible pain all over my body. I am completely bedridden, often lose consciousness. Many wonder how I am still alive. Because my brain is damaged according to the MRI scan. Most of my symptoms are from heavy metal poisoning. No lab in Georgia can treat that. The Polish government has set up a clinic for my treatment, but I could also imagine being treated at the Charité in Berlin, exactly where Navalny was treated.”
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“For me, Germany is associated with justice”
What is your message to Germany?
Saakashvili: “For me, Germany is associated with justice. I spent my last evening in Europe at the Frankfurt Opera restaurant with my German friends who are members of the Bundestag. Hopefully Chancellor Scholz and Minister Baerbock will not allow me to die in front of everyone from medieval torture.”
► “In general, I would like to ask Chancellor Scholz: Do you think it is normal that there is a country in Europe that is unofficially controlled by an oligarch?” Saakashvili continued.
“The security apparatus of Georgia is under the full control of the oligarchs, even the prosecutor’s office and the court – everything in turn is linked to Russia.”
What do you think, why don’t you get a pardon from the current President of Georgia?
Saakashvili: “It could at least postpone the execution of the sentence. Her argument that in some cases the verdict has not yet been reached and that she cannot therefore pardon me is unfounded.”
BILD also spoke exclusively to Saakashvili’s mother Giuli Alasania (76).
The ex-president’s mother, Giuli Alasania (76), fears for her son’s life
Mrs. Alasania, how is your son? Are you afraid for his health and for his life?
Reason: “My son’s health condition is very serious. According to numerous doctors, including German ones, he has brain damage and reduced white blood cells because he was poisoned in prison and there are heavy metals such as mercury or arsenic in his body. He is very weak. For months he has had a high fever and muscle atrophy. He also has excruciating pain in his tendons and joints. If he is not detoxified immediately, a fatal end is inevitable.”
Mikheil Saakashvili shows his tortured and emaciated body in the clinic
How often are you allowed to see your son and what do you bring him with you?
Reason: “I’m allowed to see him twice a day, but only because I bring him food after it turned out he was poisoned in prison. I’m the only one allowed to bring him food, supposedly to be on the safe side.”
What does a mother-son meeting in prison look like and what do you talk about?
Reason: “We mainly talk about Ukraine, the ongoing war there and perspectives. Unfortunately, it is impossible to speak on all subjects as we are constantly monitored and listened to. You can always publish what we discuss – and this has happened many times before.”
Do you think your son is wrongly in prison?
Reason: “It is recognized that my son is a prisoner of Putin. He’s been framed with fabricated cases and is in jail because of it, which is unacceptable. My son roamed freely all over the world for years, just not in Russia and Georgia.”
“My priority is to save my son’s life”
Are you also being monitored or bullied?
Reason: “Of course I am checked and monitored. My family and I are bugged. But that doesn’t concern me as much at the moment. My priority is to save my son’s life.”
What could your son’s future look like if he were released?
Reason: “I think his future life will be related to Ukraine and reconstruction.”