KIEV, December 5. /TASS/. Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Yuri Lutsenko has said that Mikheil Saakashvili, the leader of the New Forces’ Movement, must give himself up to the authorities within 24 hours, adding that otherwise law enforcers would apprehend him by force.
"Within 24 hours Ukraine’s entire law enforcement system will do everything it must to ensure stateless person Saakahsvili should face the investigators and then be put on trial," Lutsenko told parliament on Tuesday. "As the official responsible for taking care of law and order I believe that Saakashvili’s visit to the investigators at 09:00 tomorrow morning will save the country a lot of trouble," he added.
Lutsenko asked the protesters demonstrating near the Ukrainian parliament to stop to think and make up their mind on the basis of the audio recordings made public on Tuesday. The prosecutor’s office says in these telephone conversations Saakashvili and businessman Kucherenko discuss the financing of protest rallies.
"Each individual in this country is free to support or oppose the authorities or to stay away from politics. But not a single person can be against the Ukrainian state. I remain committed to the positions of legality and humanism. We will seek to avoid any use of force and bloodshed," he said.
At a rally in front of the Ukrainian parliament Saakashvili demanded the resignation of the country’s president Pyotr Poroshenko and top officials of the Prosecutor-General’s Office and security service SBU and consideration of a bill of the president’s impeachment by parliament on Tuesday.
About one thousand of Saakashvili's followers are in Constitution Square near the parliament building.