Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in court in Tbilisi, Georgia, 2 December 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE / IRAKLI GEDENIDZE
A Tbilisi city court has sentenced the former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, to nine years in prison after finding him guilty of embezzling public funds in a case that many believe to be politically motivated, opposition news channel Mtavari TV reported on Wednesday.
According to investigators, during Saakashvili’s second term as president between 2009 and 2013, the sum of 9 million GEL (almost €3 million) was misappropriated from the state budget at his behest.
Teimuraz Janashia, the former head of the Special State Protection Service of Georgia, which is responsible for guarding senior political figures including the president, was also found guilty of abuse of office, and fined 300,000 GEL (€99,000). Saakashvili and Dzhanashia have both consistently denied all charges against them, describing them as trumped up.
Saakashvili is currently serving a six-year sentence on charges of illegally pardoning four police officers in 2008 and ordering the beating of opposition MP Valeri Gelashvili in 2005. According to Mtavari TV, the new verdict will extend his prison term by three years.
One of the leaders of Georgia’s Rose Revolution in 2003, which led to the overthrow of former president Edouard Shevardnadze, Saakashvili served two terms as president from 2004-2013, and has been a long-time political rival of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
After spending seven years in self-imposed exile, Saakashvili was arrested upon his return to Georgia in October 2021. Since then, human rights organisations have accused the Georgian authorities of seriously endangering his health by denying him adequate medical care.
