Convicted ex-Pres Saakashvili requests to attend Patriarch Ilia II’s funeral

Georgia’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, has announced on social media that he had asked his lawyer to submit a request to attend the funeral of His Holiness, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II.

“I have asked my lawyer to file a request and I demand to be allowed to attend the Patriarch’s funeral, as his friend,” Saakashvili wrote.

Patriarch Ilia II, who led the Georgian Orthodox Church for decades, passed away on 17 March at the age of 93. He will be buried at Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi on 22 March.

A period of national mourning has been declared across Georgia.