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Tag: Mikheil Saakashvili

  • Former Georgian president Saakashvili jailed for four more years

    Former Georgian president Saakashvili jailed for four more years

    A court in Georgia has given former president Mikheil Saakashvili more prison time.

    On Monday, he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for illegally entering the country in 2021 after living in exile, according to his lawyer.

    Saakashvili is already serving time for embezzlement and abuse of power while in office, bringing his total prison sentence to over 12 years.

    He has always denied any wrongdoing, calling his latest sentence “illegal” and “unfair.” Human rights groups believe his imprisonment is politically motivated.

    Saakashvili has been a strong critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party, which supports closer ties with Russia. During his presidency, he pushed for stronger relations with Western countries.

    In a video posted on X on Monday from the hospital where he is being held, Saakashvili said: “No matter what, I will fight to the end.”

    Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili was sentenced last week to nine more years in prison for embezzlement. This sentence runs alongside the jail time he was already serving.

    In 2018, he was tried in absentia and sentenced in two separate cases.

    Saakashvili was arrested in 2021 after secretly returning to Georgia by smuggling himself on a ferry from Ukraine just before the country’s local elections. He urged people to protest against the government, but authorities quickly detained him.

    Now 57 years old, he served as Georgia’s leader for two terms from 2004 to 2013. After leaving, he mostly lived in Ukraine.

    In 2015, he was granted Ukrainian citizenship and gave up his Georgian nationality to become governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region. However, his Ukrainian citizenship was revoked in 2017 before being restored in 2019 by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    “This [sentence] is basically sending a message… to President Zelensky, for them to scare him to show what happens when you don’t surrender your country… I did not surrender Georgia,” Saakashvili said in his video address while wearing a black shirt with the words “I’m Ukrainian” emblazoned on it.

    Zelensky, who appointed Saakashvili to oversee reforms in Ukraine, has demanded his transfer to Kyiv.
    He has previously accused Russia of “killing” Saakashvili “at the hands of the Georgian authorities”.
    The European Union has repeatedly called for Saakashvili’s immediate release from prison, expressing concern over his deteriorating health.

    The Council of Europe rights watchdog has branded him a “political prisoner,” while Amnesty International has called his treatment an “apparent political revenge”.

  • Mikheil Saakashvili: Current condition of former Georgian president’s sparks concerns

    Mikheil Saakashvili: Current condition of former Georgian president’s sparks concerns

    The emaciated-looking jailed former Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, has stirred calls among world leaders for his release.

    The former president who appeared emaciated at a court hearing via video on Wednesday, has been in a Georgian prison since October 2021.

    He was convicted of abusing his position of authority while in office, a charge he claims was politically motivated.

    He was found guilty of abusing his position of authority. He claims the accusations were made for political reasons.

    His health has significantly declined since his incarceration, and he alleges that authorities poisoned him.

    Mr Saakashvili was arrested in 2021 after making a surprise return to Georgia by smuggling himself into the country on a ferry from Ukraine. He called for mass anti-government demonstrations but was quickly arrested by Georgian authorities.

    He was convicted in absentia of abuses of power while in office.

    The Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said he was self-harming and his condition was a result of his refusal to eat.

    Mr Saakashvili’s medical team said his weight had dropped from 115 kg (254 pounds) to 68 kg (150 pounds) since his imprisonment.

    Among the world leaders calling for his release were Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said authorities were “torturing and killing” him.

    During a press conference, Mr Zelensky said he believed the current Georgian government was trying “to kill” Mr Saakashvili.

    Mr Saakashvili was granted Ukrainian citizenship in 2015, and spoke only in Ukrainian at his court appearance, wearing a t-shirt with “I am Ukrainian” printed on it. He also served as the governor of the western province of Odesa between 2015 and 2016.

    The Moldovan President Maia Sandu also called for Mr Saakashvili’s immediate release;

    “Torturing an opposition leader to death is unacceptable for a country that wants to join the European Union,” she wrote in a tweet.

    Empathy, an organisation supporting victims of torture in Georgia, alleged on 1 December that Mr Saakashvili had been diagnosed with illnesses “incompatible with imprisonment” and that Georgian and foreign medical experts had found evidence of heavy-metal poisoning.

    On Thursday, the European Parliament debated Mr Saakashvili’s health, where the European Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Johannes Hahn, said the Georgian government was obliged to provide him appropriate healthcare.

    Late last year, Mr Saakashvili gave French President Emmanuel Macron a hand-written note reading: “SOS. I am dying, I have very little time left.”

    Georgian authorities have said Mr Saakasvhili is feigning his condition to secure his release from prison and have accused him of self-harm.