Democratic Movement presidential candidate Nino Burjanadze said she would arrest incumbent Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in the event of her election victory.
“Mikheil Saakashvili will be the first to go to jail if I am victorious,” the ex-Parliament Speaker told reporters in Batumi on Wednesday.
Batumi is the location of her regional campaign staff. Georgia will elect its next president in October 2013.
“An inquiry will be held after I take the office which will prove to everyone that National Movement is a criminal organization. Saakashvili will be arrested first,” she said.
“Possible criticism from the West will be immaterial. I do not need anyone’s support in this case,” the former Speaker said.
“At the same time, I am ready to answer for any crime they may find me guilty of. I have been accused of murder, but the authorities have never conducted an investigation,” Burjanadze said.
“It is senseless to speak about justice” in a country where the Supreme Court is chaired by Konstantin Kublashvili, she said.
“How can we speak about justice when Kublashvili imprisons thousands illegally?” Burjanadze wondered.
