The leader of “Girchi — More Freedom” and one of the leaders of the “Coalition for Change,” Zurab Girchi Japaridze, stated that former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was forcibly removed from the courtroom by escort officers during a hearing in the “sabotage” case.
The hearing was held behind closed doors and concerned the case of eight accused politicians. According to Japaridze, tensions arose after Saakashvili asked to be allowed to speak in court, but the judge denied his request.
The opposition politician stated that the defense lawyers pointed out Saakashvili had been brought specifically from Rustavi Prison and asked to give him at least a few minutes to make a statement. However, the judge quickly ended the session and announced the date of the next hearing.
Following this, according to the opposition leader, a clash broke out between Saakashvili and the escort officers.
“He was removed by force — they physically grabbed him by the arms and dragged him out of the courtroom,” Japaridze said.