(9 Dec 2017) Mikheil Saakashvili, the adamant opposition leader who was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship four months ago, was arrested late Friday in Ukraine's capital.
Hundreds of his supporters gathered in a narrow street outside the police station where he was taken, shouting "Wake up Kiev" and calling for others to join them.
"I'm calling on all the people who value freedom to support Mikhail Saakashvili and those Ukrainians who are fighting for their freedom and prosperity," said one protester.
The arrest boosted rising tensions in a country that has already been shaken by massive protest uprisings twice in this century.
Saakashvili's extraordinary energy and strong charisma took him to the forefront of the 2003 Rose Revolution that forced out the government in his native Georgia.
He then served as Georgian president for a decade.
After leaving Georgia as his political fortunes declined, he was appointed governor of Ukraine's Odessa region by President Petro Poroshenko.
Saakashvili had received plaudits for his anti-corruption reforms in Georgia and was expected to try for similar results in Odessa.
But he stepped down in 2016, complaining that Poroshenko himself had undermined his efforts.
The president, his former patron, rescinded his Ukrainian citizenship in July while he was out of the country.
Georgia had earlier stripped his citizenship and sought his extradition on charges of abuse of power while president.
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