Saakashvili Received His Second Verdict in Two Weeks.

Saakashvili Sentenced to Imprisonment for Illegal Border Crossing

A court in Tbilisi sentenced former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to four and a half years in prison for illegal border crossing in 2021. This was reported with reference to the Georgian TV channel 'TV Pirveli'.

This court ruling is the fourth conviction for Saakashvili. Saakashvili himself did not participate in the session.

The border crossing occurred in 2021 when Saakashvili secretly returned to the country after eight years of absence.

Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013. The former president has been accused in four criminal cases. Two of them resulted in sentences of three and six years in prison. In October 2021, Saakashvili returned to Georgia, but he was detained.

Saakashvili claims that his detention is illegal and the charges are fabricated. In May 2022, due to deteriorating health, Saakashvili was transferred to the private Tbilisi clinic 'Vivamed'.

It is also worth noting that Saakashvili lost a case against Georgia in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The court found no grounds to doubt the fairness of the criminal proceedings against him.

Recall that on March 12, Saakashvili was sentenced to nine years in prison for embezzlement of budget funds. Saakashvili called this verdict a 'surprise' and considers it 'practically life imprisonment.'