Ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has called for major street protests on Feb. 4 to demand Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko be removed from power.
He announced his plans on Jan.26 on NewsOne TV channel.
“We will go to Schevchenko Park and then to Maidan,” he said. “We won’t let these scumbags to rob this country.”
Earlier on Jan. 26, Kyiv Court of Appeal placed Saakashvili under nighttime house arrest for the time of his criminal trial, meaning he will not be allowed to leave his apartment on Kostolna Street in downtown Kyiv from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m.
Saakashvili claims the court’s decision is no more than a lie and another attempt to restrict his political activities and to prevent him being interviewed by Ukrainian TV Channels.
He promised to set up a broadcasting studio in his apartment and address the public from there.
“House arrest will not stop our further actions, and they will be very radical,” Saakashvili said at the court hearing.
The former Georgian president said large-scale protests would inevitably lead to a change in the government.
“Petro Oleksiyevich (Poroshenko) you are messing with the wrong guy,” Saakashvili said, addressing the president.
Poroshenko is yet to comment on the situation yet.
Saakashvili has previously called large street protests and rallies in Kyiv. Several thousand people marched through the central streets of the capital on Dec. 10 to protest against the detention of Saakashvili and call for the impeachment of Poroshenko.
