Ministry: Saakashvili didn’t cross Georgian border

Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia, didn’t cross Georgia’s border, Report informs referring to the country’s Interior Ministry.

Saakashvili earlier said he is back to Georgia.

Saakashvili, who is based in Ukraine, said he planned to fly back on October 2, despite facing imprisonment on charges he says are politically motivated, Daily Sabah reported.

Tensions between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition, which Saakashvili supports, have been severely strained since a parliamentary election last year that the opposition alleged was rigged. International observers said at the time that the election had been competitive and that fundamental freedoms had generally been respected.

A Georgian court in June 2018 sentenced Saakashvili in absentia to six years in prison for abuse of power and seeking to cover up evidence about the beating of an opposition member of parliament when he was president.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said the police would arrest Saakashvili if he came back.