Former Georgian president sentenced to 4.5 years in prison

Tbilisi City Court has sentenced former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to 4.5 years in prison for illegally crossing the border in 2021, Report informs via Georgian media.

Saakashvili himself did not participate in the hearing.

It is noted that the announcement of the verdict caused a stir in the courtroom.

Bailiffs were forced to remove the ex-president's supporters from the courtroom. Saakashvili secretly arrived in Georgia from Ukraine in early October 2021, the day before the local elections.

At that time, he had already been convicted in absentia in his home country on two criminal cases. He was detained in Tbilisi on October 1.