MOSCOW (AP) - Ukraine’s intelligence agency on Tuesday detained the former president of Georgia, who has emerged as an anti-corruption campaigner in his new country, but angry protesters blocked the van in which he was being held, leading to an hourslong standoff.
Mikheil Saakashvili climbed onto the roof of his home in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, drawing a crowd of supporters below, when the Ukrainian Security Service arrived to detain him. Officers followed him onto the roof, detained him and led him out to a waiting van.
However several hundred supporters blocked the road and surrounded the van, refusing to let it drive off. Two hours after Saakashvili entered the van, it was still at a standstill as the crowd chanted “Kiev, rise up!”
The Security Service said in a statement that Saakashvili is facing a criminal investigation for “assisting members of criminal organizations or hiding their criminal activities.” It was not immediately clear what the case refers to.
Saakashvili poses a political challenge to President Petro Poroshenko, who appointed him as governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region after Saakashvili was termed out of office in Georgia and left the country in 2013. He resigned as Odessa governor in 2016, complaining that his efforts to root out corruption suffered official obstruction.
Saakashvili and Poroshenko soon fell out, and the Ukrainian president revoked Saakashvili’s citizenship in July. Saakashvili forced his way across Ukraine’s border with Poland last month.
Saakashvili has teamed up with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and other opposition groups, raising the heat on Poroshenko.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.