Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday claimed that former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s return to Georgia in 2021 was orchestrated by Ukrainian military intelligence.
In a social media post, Papuashvili said “a few days before his infiltration into Georgia, Saakashvili was in Brussels and met with representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament.”
The official further noted that at the time, Saakashvili had already been sentenced to six years in prison for the murder of Sandro Girgvliani and the beating of former MP Valeri Gelashvili.
Saakashvili, who served as Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2013, has been convicted in four separate criminal cases, with a fifth still under trial.
The latest ruling on March 17 sentenced him to four years and six months for illegal border crossing, an offense stemming from his covert return to Georgia from Ukraine in 2021. The prosecution claimed he had entered the country hidden in a dairy truck aboard a ferry from Ukraine.
Saakashvili’s convictions also include charges related to abuse of power, financial mismanagement, and ordering violent attacks. The most recent and significant rulings include the so-called Jackets Case.
Last week Saakashvili was sentenced to nine years in prison for allegedly misusing over nine million GEL (approximately $3.2 million) in state funds for personal expenses between 2009 and 2013. The expenditures included personal luxury items, foreign travel, and payments to stylists and chefs, the prosecution said.
The former President was sentenced in absentia in January 2018 to three years for pardoning officials convicted in the 2006 Girgvliani murder case, bypassing legal procedures, while in July 2018, he received a six-year sentence for orchestrating a violent attack on the former MP in 2005.
Saakashvili, his legal team, and political allies have condemned the rulings as politically motivated. They accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of weaponizing the judiciary against political opponents, aligning with Russian interests. The former president himself has repeatedly claimed that he considered himself a “political prisoner” of billionaire and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The legal proceedings against Saakashvili are ongoing, with one more case pending.
