Saakashvili, who was president from 2004 to 2013, was arrested for six years for abuse of power after returning to Georgia in 2021 after a spell abroad. He spent much of this sentence in a prison hospital.
Georgiana television showed a commotion scenes in court after the verdict was announced, with the supporters of Saakashvili calling the judge “slave” of the current government.
Today, a deeply polarizing figure in Georgia, Saakashvili has risen to power in a popular acclaim tide in the 2003 Rose Revolution.
In power, he reormed Georgia toward the West and embarked on an ambitious public sector reform program that provided rapid improvements in the country of southern Caucasus of 3.7 million.
However, the last part of his term was marked by authoritarianism, police brutality and a disastrous 2008 war with Russia.
In 2012, his United National Movement Party lost an election to a coalition led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire businessman who remains the de facto leader of Georgia to date.
After leaving office, Saakashvili moved to Ukraine, where he briefly served as governor of the southern Odesa region.
In 2021, he returned to Georgia, although he was sentenced to the abuse of power. He was arrested and arrested on arrival.
