Saakashvili’s property seized
By Tea Mariamidze
Monday, September 22
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office seized a large portion of Mikheil Saakashvili’s property on September 19.
Saakashvili is accused in misspending GEL 8.8 million of budget funds and not cooperating with the investigation.
“There was a grounded suspicion that he could have sold property belonging to him or his family,” the statement says.
According to the legal body, the property includes Saakashvili’s two-hectare vineyard in Kvareli and his Honda Accord vehicle, as well as his wife’s flat in Tbilisi; a plot of land owned by his mother in Kvareli, his mother’s flat in Batumi and her share in Yuji Garden LTD; Saakashvili’s grandmother’s flat in Tbilisi, a plot of land owned by his grandmother in the village of Natanebi and Saakashvili’s grandmother’s Toyota as well as his father Nikoloz Saakashvili’s vehicle.
In response, Saakashvili stated that he was one of the most “poor” presidents in world history and admitted that he cared more about the country’s fate than about his property.
Saakashvili stressed that the current government acts based on medieval methods and dragging the country into economic disaster. He emphasized that all the major projects and state-important initiatives launched under have been suspended.
Saakashvili’s Lawyer Otar Kakhidze explained that Saakashvili is accused of embezzlement of funds, not appropriation. He suggests that there is no link between the offense and the sequestrated assets.
The opposition United National Movement is unanimous that the “funny action” by the government is related to political persecution. However, they assure that nothing will stop or destroy Saakashvili and his party.
Commenting on the fact, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili said that
“Mikheil Saakashvili is an exponent of the past and I do not want to talk about him.”
Minister of Healthcare Davit Sergeenko said that the Prosecutor’s Office would have had real evidence to carry out the action and added that everyone should be equal before law.
