Ex-Georgian President Saakashvili sentenced to another 9 years in prison

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been sentenced to nine years in prison for embezzlement of budget funds on a large scale in the so-called "jacket case".

This was reported by Echo of Caucasus.

Thus, the decision was announced by the judge of the Tbilisi City Court Badri Kochlamazashvili. The court found former head of the Special Protection Service Teimuraz Dzhanashia guilty of abuse of power and fined him GEL 300,000.

Saakashvili and Dzhanashia have previously repeatedly denied the charges, stating that the process is political in nature.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor's office claimed that from May 1, 2009 to February 25, 2013, on the instructions and organization of Mikheil Saakashvili, GEL 9 million (about USD 5.4 million in those years) were improperly spent from the state budget for his personal purposes.

Before announcing the verdict, the judge said that the case presented hundreds of thousands of lari of expenses for cosmetic services provided in leading clinics abroad, as well as documents confirming the payment of the then president's tuition, which cost the budget GEL 60,000.

Saakashvili is currently serving a six-year sentence. He was previously sentenced in two other cases - on the pardon of the murderers of Sandro Girgvliani and on the beating of MP Valeri Gelashvili.

The new term of imprisonment will be calculated from the date of Mikheil Saakashvili's detention - October 1, 2021. Thus, according to the verdict, he will be able to be released only on October 1, 2030. At the same time, trials are ongoing against him in cases related to the events of November 7, 2007 and illegal border crossing.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on October 1, 2021, former President of Georgia and citizen of Ukraine Mikheil Saakashvili was detained in Georgia after he arrived home after an eight-year absence.

On February 12, 2022, Ukraine officially recognized Saakashvili as a victim in the case of ill-treatment in Georgian detention.

On July 4, 2023, Ukraine expelled Georgian Ambassador Giorgi Zakarashvili due to the Georgian authorities' abuse of imprisoned Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili.

Zelenskyy gave this instruction after Saakashvili, who was in prison in Georgia, showed his current condition online at a court hearing on July 3.

Saakashvili claimed that he was dying in prison from heavy metal poisoning, as "russian dictator vladimir putin demanded."