Georgia ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili's total prison time extends to over 12 years in new verdict
Saakashvili was found guilty of illegal border crossing and given a second prison sentence of four and a half years on Monday, in addition to his existing sentence on charges of abuse of power and embezzlement.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/03/17/georgia-ex-president-mikheil-saakashvilis-total-prison-time-extends-to-over-12-years-in-ne
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Saakashvili was found guilty of illegal border crossing and given a second prison sentence of four and a half years on Monday, in addition to his existing sentence on charges of abuse of power and embezzlement.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/03/17/georgia-ex-president-mikheil-saakashvilis-total-prison-time-extends-to-over-12-years-in-ne
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:00Ex-President of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili has been sentenced to a further 4 and a half
00:06years in prison, bringing his total sentence up to 12 years and 6 months.
00:14On Monday, the court sentenced him on charges of illegally crossing Georgia's border when
00:19returning from exile in Ukraine in 2021, when he was immediately arrested.
00:26Saakashvili, who served as Georgia's President from 2004 to 2013, had previously been sentenced
00:33on charges of abuse of power and embezzlement that opposition parties have labeled as politically
00:38motivated.
00:39I am being judged for daring and managing to transform Georgia into a successful state,
00:45for defeating corruption, for striving for the people and not for my own pocket, he explained
00:51on a videoconference call in court on Monday.
00:55In 2003, Saakashvili led the so-called Rose Revolution protests.
01:00In office, he reorientated Georgia towards the West and embarked on an ambitious public
01:04sector reform.
01:06But in 2012, his United National Movement party lost the election to the Georgian Dream
01:11Party, which is currently in power and has been accused of tightening its grip on democratic
01:16freedoms while steering the country away from the EU membership and tilting towards Russia.