There were farcical scenes in Kiev on Tuesday and Wednesday (5 and 6 December) as former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili continued a surreal hide-and-seek game with Ukrainian police.
Tuesday's standoff began when officers of Ukraine's Security Service, the SBU, went to Saakashvili's home in Kiev to detain him. Trying to resist the arrest, he climbed onto the roof and threatened to jump off, but SBU agents took him down and put him into a van.
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is seen on the roof of a building during a search of his apartment in KievSerhii Nuzhnenko/ReutersFormer Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is detained by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine at his apartment in KievValentyn Ogirenko/ReutersSupporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with police officers during a search of Saakashvili's apartment in KievValentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Several hundred protesters then surrounded the vehicle and blocked it from moving. They clashed with police, who unsuccessfully tried to disperse the demonstrators with tear gas. After a tense standoff that lasted for hours, Saakashvili was freed by his supporters.
He led them on a march to parliament to demand President Petro Poroshenko's resignation. "I will die for Ukraine," Saakashvili shouted to the crowd. "I owe you my freedom and my life." With the yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flag around his neck, Saakashvili urged Ukrainians to rise against "Poroshenko and his gang."
Supporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with police officers during a search of Saakashvili's apartment in KievValentyn Ogirenko/ReutersUkrainian National Guard officers guard a van carrying former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili onboardGleb Garanich/ReutersSupporters of Georgian former President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with National Guard officers guarding a car carrying Saakashvili onboardGleb Garanich/ReutersSupporters of former the Georgian president clash with police as they try to release him after he was arrested in KievSergei Chuzavkov/AFPSupporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with riot police in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersPolice officers use pepper spray during clashes with supporters of former the Georgian presidentSergei Supinksy/AFPPolice officers use pepper spray during clashes with supporters of the former Georgian president attempting to block a police van in which he was being transportedSergei Supinksy/AFPSupporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with riot police in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersSupporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with riot police in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersSupporters of Georgian former President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with National Guard officersGleb Garanich/ReutersSupporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with riot police in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersSupporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with riot police in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersSupporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with riot police in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersSupporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with riot police in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersSupporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with riot police in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersSupporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili clash with police officers in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersFormer Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili struggles to escape from a police car in KievOleh Tereshchenko/ReutersFormer Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili reacts after he was freed by his supporters in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersFormer Georgian Mikheil Saakashvili speaks after he was released by his supporters in KievSergei Chuzavkov/AFPFormer Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili addresses his supporters in KievValentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
The drama continued on Wednesday morning as police went looking for Saakashvili at a tent camp outside the parliament building in Kiev. They came away empty-handed. Saakashvili popped up soon after they left and said police had searched the wrong tent at the camp.
Police officers guard the Parliament building in KievGleb Garanich/ReutersFormer Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili stands next to a tent at a protest camp set up in front of the Parliament building in KievOleh Tereshchenko/ReutersFormer Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili talks to his supporters, who were injured in clashes with the policeOleh Tereshchenko/Reuters
The efforts to detain Saakashvili, now an opposition leader in his adopted country, have raised fears that Ukraine could be facing its most acute political crisis since the 2014 revolution. Saakashvili has won broad popularity in Ukraine with his fiery campaign against official corruption. He has staged a series of rallies calling for the president's resignation, but they haven't produced any visible impact.
Poroshenko's office said prosecutors have evidence to back up claims that Saakashvili has received financing from criminals linked to former president Viktor Yanukovich who planned to overthrow the current government. Saakashvili received Ukrainian citizenship when he reinvented himself as a Ukrainian politician but was stripped of it by Poroshenko in July while abroad and is now stateless.
