A wave will rise from Batumi that will sweep away this regime in Tbilisi – Mikheil Saakashvili

Georgia’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, stated that the current situation in Georgia is catastrophic and that the government’s policies are leading the country toward isolation and ruin.

Saakashvili made these remarks while speaking at the Tbilisi City Court during the ongoing trial concerning the events of November 7.

According to Saakashvili, Batumi is the city from which a significant political wave against the government will emerge.

"Given that the Constitutional Court is based in Batumi, know that the wave which will sweep away this regime in Tbilisi will rise from Batumi—because the most combative people are there. Batumi understood better than anywhere else what prosperity, freedom, and development truly are. I place my greatest hope in the people of Batumi," Saakashvili declared.

He noted that villages in Georgia are emptying out and agriculture is in decline, while a portion of the population is moving to cities—where they work as taxi drivers and live in rented accommodation—before eventually attempting to emigrate. Saakashvili also addressed the ongoing proceedings in the Constitutional Court and criticized the characterization of the 2003 Rose Revolution. He stated that portraying the revolution as an illegal coup d'état carried out at the behest of foreign powers amounts to a distortion of historical events.

"The Rose Revolution was the event that brought Georgia genuine state institutions and real state development, and transformed Georgia into the world's number one reformer," Saakashvili declared.

In his view, the Rose Revolution played a significant role in bringing Adjara back under the control of Georgia’s central government and in the subsequent development of Batumi. Saakashvili noted that labeling the revolution as illegal also casts doubt on the historical context regarding Adjara and Batumi’s status as part of Georgia.

Saakashvili also touched upon the issue of the Ergneti market, stating that its closure—along with the associated economic policy—served to strengthen the Georgian economy. He argued that without these measures, the country would not have been able to increase pensions and salaries or improve the supply of electricity. According to the former president, the 2006 exposure and arrest of a Russian spy network—an issue raised within the context of the charges brought against him—has been misrepresented. Saakashvili asserts that this network posed a threat to Georgia’s security, accusing its members of preparing acts of sabotage.

Saakashvili also addressed the August 2008 war, criticizing the characterization of these events by the Georgian authorities as a crime provoked by Georgia itself. He stated that such an interpretation serves to diminish the heroism displayed by the Georgian military.

"They want to negate the heroism of Antsukhelidze, the heroes of Shindisi, and others. They have labeled our heroic defense as 'anti-state,'" Saakashvili declared.

He warned that if the current administration continues to govern, Georgia will find itself in an even more dire situation.

"This country is heading not just toward isolation, but toward total ruin. Can you not see that the country is on fire?" Saakashvili stated.

During his remarks, Saakashvili also touched upon the case of the murder of Roin Shavadze in Batumi. He referred to Shavadze as a former employee of Georgian state structures, stating that in 2008, he had passed information to Russian intelligence regarding the deployment of Georgian troops and potential targets for bombardment.

"I often hear talk in Batumi—amid the ongoing legal proceedings—that the murder of Roin Shavadze was never investigated. Do you know who Roin Shavadze was? He was a traitor—an employee of a Georgian state structure—who, in 2008, provided Russian intelligence with the deployment of our troops, their coordinates, and locations to be bombed. Had he been a convicted criminal, he would certainly have been released in 2012 as a political prisoner," Saakashvili stated.