TBILISI, October 1. / TASS /. Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili’s claims that he returned to his homeland on Friday, have been disputed by the Interior Ministry who told TASS that he did not cross the state border.
"[Saakashvili] did not cross the state border of Georgia," the press service said.
On Friday, Saakashvili stated on his Facebook page that he arrived back in his native country eight years after his departure. Later, the ex-president published a video, claiming to be in Batumi. The Georgian authorities have repeatedly stated that they would immediately arrest him upon his arrival.
Georgia’s ex-leader said on Monday that he had bought a plane ticket to Tbilisi for the evening of October 2 in order to make it to the local elections. Later, some photos of his booked ticket, according to which, he was going to fly home with his mother Giuli Alasania, were published on the Internet.
Saakashvili served as Georgia's president between January 2004 and November 2013. He left the country several days before his presidential term expired in 2013. Right after that, four criminal cases were opened against him and verdicts have now been announced in two of them. In January 2018, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Saakashvili in absentia to three years behind bars in the 2006 murder case of United Bank of Georgia staff member Sandro Girgvliani. In June 2018, a court handed the ex-president a six-year prison sentence in the 2005 beating case of parliament member Valery Gelashvili.