The former Georgian president and leader of the main opposition party, Mikheil Saakashvili, answered Le Monde's questions on Thursday, May 16, after the adoption two days earlier of the country's controversial bill on "foreign influence" – modeled on a Russian law and aimed at stifling the voices of civil society and independent media. The former leader of the Rose Revolution in 2003, imprisoned since 2021 for what he calls political reasons, wrote his answers by hand in French and English. They were transmitted by his lawyer and friend, Giorgi Chaladze. Saakashvili, 56, criticizes the country's "changing geopolitical momentum" and the EU's lack of responses, and calls on young people to continue to "fight for freedom."
This means changing Georgia's geopolitical momentum and transforming the country in the style of Belarus. (...) We should understand how much is at stake in Georgia now. I believe that in many ways the present upheaval was provoked by the Russians, who want to take revenge for "colored revolutions." They consider that the West is weak and that they can defeat an attempted colored revolution in Georgia.
Georgia was the first to win during the Rose Revolution in 2003, and it shall undergo an exemplary punishment. I was the main symbol for reforms and changes, and I shall be punished in an exemplary way. That's why I was tortured and it was shown on TV and was poisoned later. [An independent group of doctors denounced his mistreatment in prison in 2021 and his "poisoning" with heavy metals in 2022].
Look, it is not just about this law. The main things were said by Bidzina Ivanishvili [honorary president of Georgian Dream, the party in power for 12 years] during his latest public speech. He said very directly that he will not allow the change of government through elections and he will destroy opposition. (...) Ivanishvili is a classic post-Soviet autocrat whose promises are worthless and who only understands the language of force.
The country is in a more precarious situation than in 2008, when the Russian tanks were standing at the entrance to Tbilisi [during the war with Russia]. Now, Russia has already achieved, through hybrid methods, something it couldn't reach through direct military intrusion. If Ivanishvili prevails now, yes, it would mean sucking Georgia into Vladimir Putin's USSR 2.0. He still has a chance to transfer power in a civilized way, but I think it's the last thing he'll try to do.
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