If Georgia fails to receive EU candidate status and if the Commission issues a negative decision, you must all work together to ensure that the Government of Georgia resigns, that new elections are scheduled, and that they are held under a government of national accord. This is beyond doubt, we have no time to lose – third President Mikheil Saakashvili stated while remotely participating in the court session.

“Now is not the time for such ambitions. “This opposition group”, “that opposition group”, “this party, that party” – everyone must stand together! Protest is a sign of Europeanness.

Today, they are killing me for a simple reason - they are punishing me and killing me because I set a successful foreign [policy] precedent. They are punishing me and killing me because I went to Ukraine, I help them, and I play a very big role in that country. They are punishing me because we forced Putin to lose his grip on Odessa in 2015…

They are punishing me because I brought light to a darkened Georgia, I eliminated the criminal underworld, they are punishing me because I paved the way for young people, I eliminated corruption in the education system – they are punishing me because I was not like them. I have never stolen anything, I wanted everything for Georgia. For this reason, my punishment is Georgia’s shame.

My imprisonment is Putin’s personal revenge because he does not like successful Georgians.

Brainwashing is ongoing and instead of there being 9 successful years in the history of Georgia [referring to the period UNM was in power], a large part of the population – including the young people – was taught that that period was the nine bloody years.

We must participate in every process, our relationship with Europe must be in our hands. We should take our relationship with Russia, the invader, into our own hands, and it should not be Partskhaladze’s decision.

These people are not against agents – they are the facilitators of agents, the network of agents has gained a foothold everywhere; this includes my poisoning, which was planned by the FSB… We will definitely break this vicious cycle. I feel the love and support of the Georgian people, but most importantly, I feel the fighting spirit of the Georgian people. Nothing can stand in the way of the spirit of the Georgian people”, - said Mikheil Saakashvili.