Thousands march in Kiev to support Saakashvili
Thousands have attended a rally in the Ukrainian capital Kiev to support former Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili and his call on the Ukrainian president to resign.
Authorities said around 3,000 marched in the streets of Kiev to support Saakashvili on Sunday. His supporters put the number at around 10,000.
The march was focused on President Petro Poroshenko as the demonstrators called for his resignation, as demanded by Saakashvili. They carried banners with Poroshenko’s image marked with a red line over it.
"Poroshenko is a thief!", "Impeachment!" and "Resignation!", was among the slogans chanted by the protesters.
“... people can't stand it anymore - that nothing changes and everything just gets worse,” said a female protester, adding that she wants to be a member of political party founded by Saakashvili.
Saakashvili, a former president of Georgia, became an active voice for pro-Western camp in Ukraine during political developments that led to the ouster of a Russia-backed administration in 2014. However, the 50-year-old became at odds with authorities as he was gradually sidelined from the new Ukrainian political system. He was deported to Poland earlier in the week with authorities calling his residence in the country “illegal” and saying he should return to Poland from where he had illegally crossed into Ukrainian territories.
Once a close ally of Poroshenko, Saakashvili governed Ukraine’s Odessa region for a while. However, authorities have accused him of trying to stage a coup with the assistance of Russia, something he vehemently denies.
He held a press conference in Warsaw on Monday and said Ukrainian government officials had blindfolded him before rushing him to the airport with first a van and then a helicopter.
Authorities have also stripped Saakashvili of his Ukrainian passport. The controversial politician is also wanted in his home country Georgia on multiple criminal charges.
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