Tens of thousands in Georgia demand Saakashvili’s release

Protesters demand release of Georgian ex-president and opposition leader, imprisoned upon return from exile in Ukraine.

Tens of thousands of Georgians have rallied in the capital Tbilisi to demand the release of jailed ex-president and opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili.

Chanting Saakashvili’s nickname “Misha!” and waving national flags, demonstrators filled the city’s Freedom Square and main thoroughfare Rustaveli Avenue on Thursday, with an AFP correspondent estimating the crowd at more than 50,000 people.

Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2013, Saakashvili was arrested and imprisoned in early October upon his return from exile in Ukraine.