A Georgian court today sentenced opposition politician and former president Mikheil Saakashvili to 4 and a half years in prison, Agence France-Presse reported, citing his lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili, BTA reported.
Saakashvili has been detained since 2021, and last week he was already sentenced to 9 years in prison.
The former president “was sentenced to 4 years and six months in prison for illegally crossing the Georgian border“ upon his return from exile in 2021, Sadzaglishvili said.
Saakashvili studied in the United States and France, speaks five languages fluently, and became president after in 2003 led the Georgian "Rose Revolution", which peacefully overthrew the old elites inherited from the Soviet era. During his rule, he led an effective fight against corruption, reformed the police, which was affected by this problem, imprisoned leaders of criminal organizations and rebuilt the infrastructure.
His critics accuse him of having an authoritarian bent to his rule, due to the violent measures taken against anti-government protests. He is currently the leading opposition figure.
The European Parliament has called for the immediate release of the leader of the Georgian opposition, recalls AFP. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested his transfer to Kiev. Saakashvili has had a Ukrainian passport since 2019.