TBILISI, March 12. /TASS/. Judge of the Tbilisi City Court Badri Kochlamazashvili, who had previously sentenced ex-Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to nine years in prison, has stated that the former leader has already served 3.5 years, as he has been imprisoned since October 2021.
Therefore, according to the judge, Saakashvili will have to remain in prison for another 5.5 years, serving his sentence until 2030.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Tbilisi City Court found Saakashvili guilty of embezzling over $3.2 million in state funds and sentenced him to nine years in prison. According to the court’s ruling, Teimuraz Dzhanashia, Saakashvili’s former head of security, was also found guilty, but he escaped with a fine of 3,000 laris (over $1,000).
Saakashvili was charged with misappropriating state funds in 2014. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, a significant portion of this amount was spent in 2009-2012 on personal needs, including "to pay for the services of foreign chefs, masseuses, cosmetologists, designers," as well as to purchase luxury goods, rent yachts and airplanes during foreign trips, and to pay for the expenses of accompanying persons.
Saakashvili, who is now a Ukrainian citizen, left Georgia in 2013, after which four criminal cases were launched against him. In two of them, the politician was sentenced to three and six years in prison in absentia. The cases of the dispersal of an opposition rally on November 7, 2007, and the destruction of the office of the Georgian Imedi TV company are under consideration. In October 2021, Saakashvili secretly arrived in Georgia, but was detained and charged with illegal border crossing. In May 2022, he was taken to the Viamed private clinic in Tbilisi due to his deteriorating health, where he is currently staying.