Mikheil Saakashvili: Bidzina, what has Kobakhidze done to you in Brussels? How could they humiliate you publicly and drag your name through the mud? Is this your “Picasso boy”? And how dare that little brat Garibashvili bite the very hands that fed him?

“Bidzina, Bidzina, darling, what has Kobakhidze done to you in Brussels? How could they drag you through the mud in front of everyone? Is this your ‘Picasso boy’? And how dare that little brat Garibashvili bite the very hands that fed him?” - former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said during a court hearing.

Before making these remarks, Saakashvili spoke about the Rose Revolution, his time in power and the situation that developed in the country after 2012.

“An address to the Georgian people!

I do not know when I will have another opportunity to address you directly. I want to look you straight in the eyes and remind you that after the Rose Revolution, the country's international standing improved, while crime and corruption disappeared. We eliminated all of this to such an extent that Georgia became the safest country in Europe and the second least corrupt country after Denmark.

Now I want to remind you of what you might not have expected me to accomplish and what we managed to achieve together: we brought light to a country that had been plunged into darkness, increased pensions, restored Georgian control over Adjara and Javakheti, effectively taking them away from Russia. We built a new country.

What world-leading reforms? What ‘beacon of democracy’ for the world? What rapid progress towards the European Union? Could any of you have even dreamed of this? I made it happen.

Does anyone remember the US President dancing in Meidan Square? Another US President addressed Parliament, while a third future president walked through Tbilisi and Batumi with great strides, praising Georgia. The President of France declared that Georgia would become a member of the European Union - that is what Sarkozy said at the time.

Did I take anything away from you? On the contrary, I sacrificed my entire personal well-being, my family life and everything else. I put my successful career in Ukraine and even my life on the line. What more can an individual possibly give?

And after all this, for God's sake, here I am, behind bars! I know who put me here. This man is terrorising the whole of Europe and the world, but all of this is being carried out through the hands of Georgian prosecutors, judges, prison guards and everyone else involved.

I want you at least to admit to yourselves what a catastrophe it is to have the man who created, built and saved Georgia held in solitary confinement, supposedly wasting the most productive years of his life in court.

If I were not here, wouldn't you be living much better lives? Wouldn't we already be members of the European Union? Wouldn't we be at least as prosperous as Singapore? Wouldn't we be EU members? Wouldn't we have Lazika?

I am asking you one more thing: let me serve you. Give me the opportunity to do something good for you and move our country forward!

Glory to you, Georgians, and glory to Georgia!

You rank-and-file ‘Dreamers’, about-turn and march towards me! Don't be afraid, I won't bite you or hurt you. But I want you to think about something: is your ‘Dream’ really for Saakashvili to die in prison without ever seeing his children again?

I want you to learn about the country's success not from television or Kobakhidze's monologues, but to see it with your own eyes and hear it with your own ears. Don't you want to stop being dependent on the whims of one person and to ensure that your commander-in-chief is not put on trial by the Russians?

Now I want to tell you a secret, my dear ‘Dreamers’: that is exactly what all of us want! There is only one thing we want from you: don't let Arkhipo turn you against one another. He is taking the future away from both you and us.

So, ‘Dreamers’, join forces and strike a blow!

Bidzina, Bidzina, darling, what has Kobakhidze done to you in Brussels? How could they drag you through the mud in front of everyone? Is this your ‘Picasso boy’? The one who supposedly speaks foreign languages?

And what about that ‘unwashed’ female journalist? Doesn't she deserve to be kidnapped, brought back to Georgia, just like Bachiashvili? Doesn't she deserve to have Nino Nadiradze sent after her to gouge out her eyes?

How is it that your entire ‘troll factory’ is working at full capacity to defend Kobakhidze, while nobody raises their voice to defend you? How dare that little brat Garibashvili bite the very hands that fed him? Isn't this dog you raised in your bosom, this lapdog, also someone who should be taken away and put to sleep?

And what about Liluashvili, sitting right below you in my case? How dare he? He says he won't give Bidzina any money and that he will disappear from Georgia anyway! The entire prison is talking about this...

Bidzina, do me a favour and send my regards to Vato Kipiani, ‘Katsro’ and the Peikrishvilis. These people were in prison during my time too, for theft and robbery. Now you have arrested them because they are your son's friends.

I am not interfering in your family life, although you interfered brutally in mine when you separated me from my children together with Putin. But wouldn't it have been better if you had made sure your son didn't have friends like these in the first place?

You came to power this way - leading 29,000 ‘raped’ people, with a broom in your hand instead of a spear.

If you cannot control your inner circle and your family, my friend, if you cannot control the streets and have been disgraced on the international stage, what do you want from us, the Georgian people? Leave us alone and take care of your family,” Saakashvili said.

Saakashvili also spoke about the events of November 7.

“November 7 was a provocation orchestrated by the Russians - an act of revenge for the Rose Revolution. It was a provocation planned by Badri Patarkatsishvili,” Saakashvili said.