Georgian prosecutor's office follows approved procedure in placing Saakashvili on domestic wanted list, - PM
TBILISI. Aug 15 (Interfax) - Former Georgian Prime Minister Mikheil Saakashvili is very concerned about the fact that he has been placed on a wanted list in Georgia, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told reporters on Friday.
"Saakashvili looked very worried," the prime minister said when asked how he took statements from New York on the placing of the former president on the domestic wanted list by the prosecutor's office while live on air on the Georgian TV channel Rustavi 2.
"I recalled the shooting in the [August 2008] war - back then he was more scared than everyone and a certain repetition of those frames has occurred," Garibashvili said.
"As to his [Saakashvili's] statements, if in some country some president thinks that what Saakashvili did is normal, then there should be no pretence of democracy," the Georgian prime minister said.
"These were the statements of a typical dictator. How else can servicing by a masseuse and millions in expenses be perceived, this is out of question," Garibashvili said.
According to the prime minister, he, "as an ordinary citizen, is ashamed that the country had such a disgraceful president, who spent the people's money on his own whims."
The time of impunity and permissiveness is over in Georgia, Garibashvili said. "Everyone should be held responsible for their own actions, all citizens - be it the prime minister, a parliamentary chairperson, a minister," he said.
When asked how probable it was that Saakashvili would be placed on the international wanted list as well, the prime minister said that "the prosecutor's office is following the procedure and doing everything as envisaged by the legislation."
On August 14 the Georgian Prosecutor General's Office placed Saakashvili, who is accused of embezzlement of budget funds, on the domestic wanted list.
Saakashvili was charged over three criminal cases earlier and as a result the courts ruled to that he be placed under arrest in absentia.