"Salome Zurabishvili's texts on unity are nothing but fiction and she has abused the public trust"

"Today it has become clear that Salome Zurabishvili's texts about unity are nothing but fiction, and she has abused public trust and cynically created vain expectations for everyone," said Georgia's third president Mikheil Saakashvili in a statement released from the Rustavi 12th penitentiary and responds to the speech of Salome Zurabishvili.

I would like to respond to the position of Salome Zurabishvili on my issue in today's parliamentary speech. First of all, I would like to inform the public that I have nothing to be pardoned for by Salome Zurabishvili, because I did not commit a crime.

However, the important fact is something else. Zurabishvili did not make the statement about my pardon for the Georgian public. This was her response to the request of the Ukrainian side, which she received through official channels from the warring authorities of Ukraine. This is how she expressed solidarity and willingness to cooperate with Ukraine.

Against this background it is ridiculous and cynical to call Zelensky her own colleague and even more so her friend. Zurabishvili has already stated once that I am to be judged for bombing the "Sleeping Tskhinvali". Now, when The Hague Tribunal made it clear that we were defending our Motherland and had not violated the laws of war, Zurabishvili feels no need to apologise for her historic disgrace to neither the commander-in-chief, nor general nor private and stubbornly repeats her words.

In her speech, she did not even mention Georgia's historic victory at the International Criminal Court, as she lost the moral right to do so. Zurabishvili also told us today that she understands the unity with the "all minus one" formula.

It has become clear today that texts of unity by Salome Zurabishvili are nothing but a fiction; she has abused public trust and cynically presented everyone with vain expectations. It is impossible to unite a society by someone who could not resist her personal resentment and thirst for revenge," Mikheil Saakashvili writes.