Court Orders Mikheil Saakashvili to Pay GEL 9 Million Over ‘Jackets Case’
Tbilisi City Court has ordered former President Mikheil Saakashvili to pay GEL 9 million (about USD 3.3 million) to recover funds he was found guilty of embezzling in the so-called “jackets case,” for which he is serving a nine-year prison term.
Speaking outside the courthouse, Saakashvili’s lawyer Beka Basilaia told Formula TV that “the court system fully obeys Bidzina Ivanishvili’s instructions,” and called Saakashvili a “political prisoner.”
The court also ordered Teimuraz Janashia, the former head of Georgia’s Special State Protection Service under Saakashvili, to pay a reported GEL 300,000 (approximately USD 111,000).
The Court of Appeals also ruled today on the initial verdict by the city court, upholding the prison sentence.
In March, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Saakashvili to nine years in prison in the “Jackets case”, which centers on the misuse of about GEL 9 million from the state budget during 2009-2012. Prosecutors said the funds, allocated to the Special State Protection Service, were spent on personal expenses, including luxury hotel stays, spa visits, cosmetic clinics, and clothing for Saakashvili and his associates.
Saakashvili, who served as Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2013, was convicted separately of abuse of power in 2018 and received a six-year sentence in absentia. He was arrested after returning from Ukraine in 2021 and received an additional sentence of four years and six months on charges of illegally crossing the state border. His total sentence extends his incarceration to 2032.
Saakashvili faces additional criminal charges related to 2007 incidents, including the dispersal of anti-government protests, a raid on Imedi TV, and the seizure of assets linked to tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, who died in 2008.
After a prolonged hunger strike in prison, Saakashvili was transferred to Tbilisi’s Vivamedi clinic, where he currently remains.
Today’s court ruling comes under tightened anti-corruption laws that allow the state to seize embezzled funds from relatives of those convicted of serious financial crimes
Also Read:
- 04/09/2025 – Georgian Dream Bans Financial Crime Convicts From Leaving Country Until Damages Repaid
- 23/05/2024 – ECHR: No Grounds for Doubting Fairness of Criminal Proceedings Against Mikheil Saakashvili
- 14/11/2023 – EPP Calls on Authorities to Take Urgent Measures to Protect Health of Mikheil Saakashvili