Ex-pres. Saakashvili claims he’s “unhappy” for PACE calling him Putin’s prisoner

The convicted former President of Georgia on Friday said that he was not happy by the recent resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which on Thursday cited him as a personal prisoner of Russian President Vladimir Putin and called for his release, claiming that the note could damage Georgia’s interests. 

“Inclusion of me as Putin’s personal prisoner in the historic resolution of the Council of Europe is an accurate description of the situation, but I can not say that I am happy. It damages the international reputation of Georgia, and I believe that in this difficult situation, internal confrontations harm Georgia, it needs consolidation and finding a common language”, Saakashvili wrote. 

The former President was arrested in Tbilisi last October after eight years in political exile, prior to municipal elections. 

Saakshvili, who currently holds Ukrainian citizenship and held a public post in the country before being arrested in Tbilisi, claimed he returned to help the opposition change the authorities “via elections. However, the Georgian Dream authorities said he wished for a coup. 

Now he is serving his six-year term for abuse of power in two separate cases, while three other cases are being discussed in the court. 

The former President said that his condition had deteriorated seriously over the past several months and required treatment abroad, which the ruling party refuses to accept.