Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili says she does not intend to pardon Mikheil Saakashvili.
In Zurabishvili's words, it is not pleasant for the president of the country to see how the former leader is detained, with the detention shot on cameras, but the rule of law requires this, and everyone is equal before the law.
''Lots of people are asking today if I intend to pardon President Saakashvili. My reply is as follows: never and under no circumstances will I do this.
Irina Enukidze's eyes are lodged in my memory for good. Many other people's eyes, who waited for justice to be done, are also with me forever. I cannot pardon him as I am loyal to the spirit which has been my driving force; which was my driving force when I stood here in this jacket and fought against the regime with my bare hands, which trampled on human rights and the law. He remained in power at the expense of people's health and lives. He made unacceptable decisions when he gave up his citizenship and when he entered the country in defiance of law and tried to tarnish the reputation of the country's law enforcement agencies. I cannot pardon him because he arrived in the country to destabilize the situation,'' Salome Zurabishvili declared at the briefing.
Mikheil Saakashvili said earlier in his video address that he was in Batumi.
Before his video address, he said in his social media post that he was in Georgia.
However, after Report News Agency reached out to the MIA, it said that Saakashvili had not crossed the border of Georgia.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili said at the briefing in the Administration of the Government of Georgia that Mikheil Saakashvili had been detained.
