TBILISI, December 24. /TASS/. The Tbilisi City Court has ruled to keep in effect the arrest as a preventive measure for former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in the case of illegal border crossing, although he is already serving a sentence in other cases, the Interpressnews agency has said.

Reportedly, in Tuesday’s hearing, Saakashvili's lawyer Beka Basilaya filed a motion to cancel the arrest after the stage of studying the evidence in court in the case of illegal border crossing was completed. According to the lawyer, there were no grounds for such a preventive measure, because the court is to announce the verdict in the case soon and the former president is already in custody.

Judge Mikhail Jinjolia explained that there remained a risk Saakashvili might escape or commit a new crime, so the motion to cancel the arrest was rejected.

On August 2, the Tbilisi City Court chose Saakashvili's arrest in the case of illegal border crossing as a measure of restraint. The judge explained there was a risk of pressure on witnesses or destruction of evidence, as well as of the defendant committing more crimes. The prosecution's request for Saakashvili's arrest was sustained.

Saakashvili, who is now a Ukrainian citizen, left Georgia in 2013, after which the country opened four criminal cases against him. In two cases Saakashvili was sentenced in absentia to three and another six years in prison. Cases of a crackdown on an opposition rally on November 7, 2007, a raid on the office of Georgian TV broadcaster Imedi and the embezzlement of more than $3.2 million of state funds are pending. In October 2021, Saakashvili secretly arrived in Georgia but was detained and charged again with illegal border crossing. In May 2022, due to deteriorating health conditions, he was taken to the private Vivamed clinic in Tbilisi, where he has remained to this day.