11 Feb 2019 12:03

Georgian parliament warns Saakashvili he would be imprisoned in Georgia

TBILISI. Feb 11 (Interfax) -Georgia's ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili is on the wanted persons list and will be imprisoned if he returns to Georgia, the Georgian parliamentary majority said.

"Saakashvili has illusions and he thinks that he has some rating and that he will be met with a red carpet if he returns to Georgia. He will be met, but he will most likely be met by the defendant's bench," Irakly Sesiashvili, chairman of the parliamentary committee on defense and security, told reporters on Monday.

He said he advises the ex-president "rather to think what he has done to the country and society."

Saakashvili earlier said while meeting with his supporters in Liege, Belgium, that he has a plan of "a prompt change of administration" in Georgia, in which emigrants will play one of the main roles.

Saakashvili, who left Georgia in 2013, was put on the wanted persons list in 2013. Several criminal cases were opened against the ex-president after the administration changed in 2012. The Georgian authorities repeatedly said that Saakashvili would be detained immediately after crossing the Georgian border.