In Georgia, the court imposed imprisonment as a preventive measure for Saakashvili. Lawyers claim “legal absurdity”
Kyiv • UNN
The Tbilisi City Court has imposed a pre-trial restraint in the form of imprisonment on former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The lawyers called the decision absurd and politically motivated, given that Saakashvili is already in prison.
The Tbilisi City Court has imposed a pre-trial restraint in the form of imprisonment on former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in the case of illegal border crossing, UNN reports with reference to Novosti Georgia.
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Judge Mykhailo Dzhindzholia granted the prosecutor's request. The prosecution argued that the politician, who has been imprisoned for almost three years, could influence witnesses, destroy evidence or commit a new crime. The court recognized that such fears were justified.
Saakashvili's lawyers called the decision a legal absurdity, stupidity and a political order. They demanded that the judge be recused, but their motion was rejected.
"What is the reasoning behind the fact that Saakashvili will influence the witnesses? You know that he is placed in the Vivamed clinic. Will he call from the balcony or instruct his lawyers? Will the medical staff or the guards do it? Will he hide in the ward or what? At the level of common sense, how can you say such things when a person is serving another three years?" Beka Basilay's lawyer was indignant at the trial.
Later, he explained to journalists that, according to established practice, Georgia does not apply a preventive measure to citizens who are already in custody.
"They are afraid of Mikheil Saakashvili's release from punishment and now they have additionally demanded a new politically motivated lever... Such nonsense is hard to find not only in the legal space, but also at the household level," the lawyer says.
Basilaya suggested that the ruling Georgian Dream decided to "play it safe" before the amnesty law was passed. Although the party assured the authorities that Saakashvili would not be affected by the amnesty, it is still unclear which articles it will cover.
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Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013. During the Georgian Dream government, four criminal cases were opened against him. In two of them, the politician was sentenced in absentia to three and six years in prison.
In October 2021, Saakashvili returned to Georgia, but was detained.
Twenty days later, Saakashvili was officially charged with illegal border crossing, which, according to investigators, he committed on September 28, secretly arriving at the Georgian port of Poti from Ukraine on a ferry carrying a truck with dairy products.
In May 2022, due to his deteriorating health, Saakashvili was transferred to the private Vivamed clinic in Tbilisi. He remains there to this day.
