The West didn't see our real situation, and we were blinded by the compliments coming from the Europeans and Americans.

I made mistakes. My supporters and I failed to prevent a main like [Mikhail] Saakashvili from acquiring absolute power. I should have criticized him earlier on.

Georgian society can no longer be divided. I don't want to see our country's best minds leaving the country to try their luck abroad.

[Mikhail] Saakashvili will use all legal and illegal means possible to remain in power. People are being threatened to prevent them from collaborating with the opposition. At the same time, he is terrorizing the business world, which prevents the opposition from gaining any funding.

I think that our society will not allow anyone to establish a dictatorship again in the future. [Mikhail] Saakashvili will fail.

Mikhail Saakashvili would do everything within his power to destroy me, first as a politician and then as a person. All government authorities, including the police, the military and the courts, are controlled by those in power.

As long as [Mikhail] Saakashvili is president, I will be unable to prove my innocence in Georgia. Seen in this light, there is a positive aspect to my arrest in Germany. It will be much easier for me to refute the charges here.