I last met the Patriarch in Berlin, in 2017, at the Shrite Clinic. Giuli [Alasania] and I visited him, Shorena Tetruashvili was present at the meeting, and it was a very warm meeting - I am still optimistic. I believe that we will overcome this very difficult period in all areas quite quickly, if we fight, of course, - reads a letter sent from prison by the imprisoned third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, which is posted on his social network.

As Saakashvili notes, “what is happening now is the strengthening of darkness.”

“Patriarch Ilia II was a complex person. In 2014, he went to Moscow, met with Putin and said the following phrase - “We should not sacrifice the relations between two peoples due to one person”. By this one person, of course, he meant me and the fact that it was because of me that Putin failed to conquer Georgia in 2008. You all evaluate this statement for yourself (history will evaluate it harshly).

However, on the other hand, I also remember how Ilia II supported me in establishing the 5-cross flag, when during my tenure as Minister of Justice and Chairman of the Sakrebulo, I actively began to use this flag, because I believed that the 5-cross flag reflected our history and values ​​much more than the flag of the First Republic of the Social Democrats.

The flag was banned, it was torn down, criminal cases were initiated against me, and then it was the Patriarch’s active intervention that strengthened our positions.

I last met the Patriarch in Berlin, in 2017, at the Shrite Clinic. Giuli and I visited him, Shorena Tetruashvili was present at the meeting, and it was a very warm meeting, during which the Patriarch had his hand on me and kept repeating to me, “You must return to Georgia immediately.”

After my return, the Patriarch was already locked up, and I think we remember the reaction of the Patriarchate to my and others’ capture.

I am telling all this because there was no clear-cut white and black, but what is happening now is the strengthening of darkness.

I am still optimistic. I believe that we will overcome this very difficult period in all areas quite quickly, if we fight, of course.

“Fight and you will win" (Taras Shevchenko) - writes Saakashvili.