Mikhail Saakashvili Sentenced in Georgia

Former President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili sentenced to nine years in prison.

This information was reported by Georgian media.

Saakashvili was found guilty of embezzling more than 3.2 million dollars. The Tbilisi City Court issued the verdict, and along with him, his former head of security Teimuraz Janashia was also convicted. However, Janashia only received a fine of 3,000 lari (just over 1,000 dollars).

The charges of embezzlement of state funds against the former president were filed back in 2014. This case in Georgia became known as the "jacket case." According to the prosecution, during his presidency, Saakashvili used the state budget to purchase clothing, pay for his son's education, cosmetic procedures, rent expensive cars and planes, as well as acquire wristwatches.

Saakashvili was detained in Georgia on October 1, 2021, after returning from Ukraine. There are five criminal cases against him, and he had previously been sentenced in absentia to six years in prison on two of them.

Currently, the Tbilisi City Court is conducting proceedings on three cases against him: embezzlement of state funds, the dispersal of a protest on November 7, 2007, and illegal border crossing.