Ukraine police rearrest ex-Georgian president Saakashvili

Kiev, December 9 : Ukrainian police on Saturday rearrested former Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili after a similar attempt to detain the foe of President Petro Poroshenko had failed.
Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said the 49-year-old anti-corruption campaigner was arrested on charges of trying to stage a coup sponsored by Russia.
“We are planning to conduct an investigation and ask the court to set a bail hearing,” Lutsenko wrote on Facebook.
Around 100 supporters of Saakashvili, the man who pulled Georgia out of Russia’s orbit in a 2003 revolution before becoming a governor in Ukraine, gathered outside a police detention centre shouting “shame”.
Interior ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said a Kiev court had 72 hours to decide whether to place Saakashvili in pretrial detention. A judge also has the option of placing him under house arrest or releasing him on bail.
Saakashvili dramatically escaped from a security service van on Tuesday after it was swarmed by hundreds of supporters angered at his detention.
He has since continued leading protests outside parliament demanding Poroshenko’s impeachment over his failure to fight high-level corruption. Saakashvili denies committing any crimes and says his actions have been peaceful and legal.