Mikheil Saakashvili Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison

Former President Mikheil Saakashvili was sentenced to nine years in prison on March 12 by Judge Badri Kochlamazashvili in the so-called Jackets case, which centers on misappropriation of state funds.

The court found Saakashvili guilty of misspending about 9 million GEL (roughly USD 3.2 million) from the state budget during 2009–2012. Prosecutors said the funds, allocated to the Special State Protection Service, were used for personal expenses—including luxury hotel stays, spa visits, cosmetic clinics and clothing purchases—for Saakashvili, his close allies, friends and family.

Saakashvili, who served as Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2012, was charged with abuse of power in 2018 and received a six-year sentence in absentia. He was arrested after his return from Ukraine in 2021, and his current sentence extends his incarceration to 2030.

In a related development, former Special State Protection Service head Teimuraz Janashia, also a defendant in the case, was fined 300,000 GEL (approximately USD 110,000). The judge said there was no evidence that Janashia spent the budget funds but that he had “used his position against the public interest.”

Opposition figures and Saakashvili’s defense—including the former United National Movement government figures—denounce the case as politically motivated. “The regime is very afraid of Mikheil Saakashvili, as the main opposition figure. It does everything to ensure that Mikheil Saakashvili remains behind the bars,” said Petre Tsiskarishvili, UNM Secretary General.

Upon his return from Ukraine, Saakashvili, who had already been sentenced in absentia in 2018 to several years in prison for abuse of power, was arrested and has been imprisoned ever since. After many months of hunger strike, the former president was transferred to the Vivamedi clinic, where he is being treated to this day.

Saakashvili faces two additional pending trials. One case addresses incidents dating back to 2007, including the dispersal of anti-government protests, the raid on Imedi TV and the seizure of assets linked to tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili. The other involves charges related to an illegal border crossing during his unexpected return to Georgia in 2021. Under Georgian law, prison sentences in multiple cases are not cumulative.

NOTE: This news article was updated on March 12 at 12:35 p.m. to include the pending cases against Mikheil Saakashvili.

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