Tbilisi City Court has sentenced former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to four and a half years in prison for illegally entering the country in 2021. The verdict, delivered by Judge Mikhail Dzhindzholiya, led to a commotion in the courtroom, with bailiffs having to remove some of Saakashvili’s supporters. The ex-president did not participate in the proceedings.
Saakashvili, who is now a Ukrainian citizen, secretly entered Georgia in October 2021, arriving at the port city of Poti on a ferry from the Ukrainian city of Chernomorsk. His return was marked by immediate legal trouble, as he was quickly detained and charged with illegal border crossing.
The conviction is the latest in a series of legal battles Saakashvili has faced since leaving Georgia in 2013. Four criminal investigations were launched against him, and he has already been sentenced in absentia to three and six years in prison in two separate cases. In March 2024, another court found him guilty of embezzling over $3.2 million in state funds, adding a nine-year prison sentence to his legal woes.
Additionally, Saakashvili is embroiled in cases related to his tenure as president. These include charges linked to the violent dispersal of an opposition rally on November 7, 2007, and the destruction of the Georgian TV company Imedi’s office, both of which are still pending in court.
Since his arrest, Saakashvili’s health has reportedly deteriorated. In May 2022, he was transferred to the Viamed private clinic in Tbilisi, where he continues to receive medical treatment. His supporters claim that his legal troubles are politically motivated, while the Georgian government insists that the charges against him are legitimate and based on his past actions.
Saakashvili, a reformist leader who served as Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2013, has remained a polarizing figure in Georgian politics. His return to the country was seen as an attempt to challenge the ruling Georgian Dream party, but it ultimately led to his imprisonment. The verdict further complicates Georgia’s already tense political landscape ahead of upcoming elections.
