A Georgian court has sentenced former President Mikheil Saakashvili to an additional nine years in prison after finding him guilty of embezzlement, Al Jazeera reports.
The ruling, announced on Wednesday, comes while Saakashvili is already serving a six-year sentence.
Judge Badri Kochlamazashvili ruled that Saakashvili, who served as Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2012, misappropriated nine million Georgian laris ($3.2 million) in state funds between 2009 and 2012. The prosecution argued that the funds were used for personal expenses, including luxury hotels, cosmetic treatments, and expensive clothing.
Teimuraz Janashia, the former head of the Special State Protection Service who was also accused in the case, was fined 300,000 laris ($110,000). The judge stated that there was no evidence to suggest Janashia personally benefited from the misappropriated funds.
The new sentence adds three years to Saakashvili’s existing prison term, which he began serving in 2021 upon his return to Georgia after a period abroad. He was initially sentenced to six years for abuse of power.
Following the verdict, Georgian television showed scenes of unrest in the courtroom, with Saakashvili’s supporters protesting the decision and accusing the judge of being a tool of the current Georgian government.
Saakashvili, via social media, defended his record as president and claimed the verdict was politically motivated to prevent him from challenging the current authorities.
A highly divisive figure, Saakashvili rose to prominence during the 2003 Rose Revolution. During his presidency, he pursued a pro-Western foreign policy and implemented significant public sector reforms in Georgia. However, his later years in office were marked by allegations of police brutality and the 2008 conflict.
In 2012, Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) party lost elections to the Georgian Dream party, which has remained in power since. After leaving office, Saakashvili served as governor of the Odesa region in Ukraine for a time.
He was convicted in absentia by a Tbilisi court in 2018 and subsequently arrested upon his return to Georgia in 2021.
Georgian Dream secured victory in the October 2024 elections.
