“I expect another three years; my sentence will be 16 years. You are giving me an additional punishment. That’s how much serial killers and pedophiles are sentenced to. I am never supposed to see my children again and never again walk in fresh air, because what is being added to me is being added,” said Mikheil Saakashvili, the third President of Georgia, who is charged in the so-called sabotage case, during a court hearing.

At the same time, he called on the public and politicians to unite.

“I’m glad to see everyone. I know it was difficult to let us in and many people were left outside. It is an honor to be caught up in this absurdity together with these dignified people. I am here because at the time I did not hand over Tbilisi, I did not run away, and I did not take advantage of the offer — ‘here’s a plane, leave the country.’ I am here because I am a citizen of Ukraine and I have done a lot for Ukraine.

There are representatives of different parties here. We may not agree on a unified assessment of our past events, but it is impossible not to agree on what kind of future we want. The situation is very simple: this regime feeds on our fear. They tell us, ‘accept this reality, obey us, accept slavery.’ Our response is that we will accept nothing and fear nothing. When I was on the brink of death, in such a severe condition, my party completely split apart and many bad things happened, but we cannot allow the enemy to immediately take advantage of this. We do not recognize this, we will not accept it, and we will definitely win. We have very great potential. I believe that the unification of everyone is ultimately inevitable, and until then we are ready to talk to everyone. We all saw this show that is taking place here, and I even derived some pleasure from it — I would never see anything like this in a cell.

I expect another three years; my sentence will be 16 years. You are giving me an additional punishment; that’s how much serial killers and pedophiles are sentenced to. I am never supposed to see my children again and never again walk in fresh air, because what is being added to me is being added.

The reasons for the misfortunes described in this lawsuit lie in my childhood. At the age of four, I was bitten on the leg by a shark, and since then I cannot stand this sea creature. I had a dream: we were going up the Sololaki ascent, we caught a shark, killed the shark, then chopped up baobab trees that had been brought with great effort, lit a bonfire, roasted the shark, and then invited all of Sololaki… This is not just about taking selfies; this is a much more serious matter. We must unite not only in the courtroom, but also in our streets, at joint events as well — country first, then personal ambitions. Georgia will definitely survive; no matter how high a wall they build for us, we will break through it and set out on the path of freedom. We will win. Now, with your permission, I will leave you — I have a basketball game to play,” Saakashvili said at the hearing.

For information, in the so-called sabotage case, the Prosecutor General’s Office has brought charges against Mikheil Saakashvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze, Elene Khoshtaria, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze.

More specifically, Giorgi Vashadze and Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze have been charged under Article 318(1) and Article 319 of the Criminal Code, which cover sabotage and assisting a foreign state in hostile activities. These charges carry a potential sentence of 7 to 15 years’ imprisonment.

Elene Khoshtaria has been charged under Article 318(1), Article 319, and Article 321¹(1) of the Criminal Code, which cover sabotage, providing material resources for such a crime, and assisting a foreign state in hostile activities.

Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze have been charged under Article 318(1) of the Criminal Code, which covers sabotage.

Mikheil Saakashvili has been charged under Article 317 of the Criminal Code, which concerns calls to violently change Georgia’s constitutional order or to overthrow state authority.

In this case, Giorgi Vashadze and Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze have been subjected to bail in the amount of 30,000 GEL as a preventive measure, while Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze have been granted bail of 1 million GEL each.