Georgian ex-president, Ukrainian official plotting coup against Tbilisi government: Leaked tape

The government of Georgia has demanded clarifications from Ukraine following a leaked tape implicating a local governor and fugitive former Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili over calling for a violent coup against the government in Tbilisi.

In a tape released by a website called “Ukrainian revolution,” Saakashvili, who was granted Ukrainian citizenship by Kiev earlier this year and appointed as governor of the country's Odessa region, is heard calling for a Ukraine-like uprising in Georgia during a telephone conversation with Nika Gvaramia, the head of one of the nation’s largest TV stations called Rustavi 2, and opposition leader Georgy Bokeria, RT reported Saturday.

During the phone call, the current Ukrainian official is further heard calling on his two friends to raise the stakes by turning the political conflict in Georgia into a violent confrontation. He also suggested hiring 1,500 to 2,000 “militants” to turn the TV station into “a fortress” in a bid to defend it against an expected court-ordered eviction of the management.

According to the report, when Gvaramia noted that the move may harm Rustavi 2 profits, Saakashvili responded, “To hell with the profit… It’s an ordinary revolution, war.”

“You have to go for the revolution here, call on the people for defense. You have to fortify, build barricades, right, exactly barricades. Just seal yourselves off. Stockpile water and stuff and go for a weeks-long standoff,” he added.

Following the leak, both Gvaramia and Bokeria confirmed the tape’s authenticity, but insisted that they did not agree with the plan suggested by Saakashvili.

The leak has sparked “an international scandal” between Georgia and Ukraine.

Saakashvili, who resigned as the Georgian president in 2013 after nearly a decade in power and is now a fugitive for alleged embezzlement and abuse of power charges, holds a high-ranking governmental position in Ukraine.

Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili reacted to the news , saying, “It was impermissible for a senior official of a foreign country to meddle in a country’s domestic policy and plan riots.”

The country's 's foreign ministry further called on Kiev to explain its position on Saakashvili’s “statements that threaten Georgia’s security and stability.” 

Georgia is seeking to revoke Saakashvili’s Georgian citizenship, since the country’s constitution forbids dual citizenship with the exception of foreigners being granted Georgian citizenship through a special presidential decree. 

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