Former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and former head of the Special State Protection Service Teymuraz Janashia must return more than 8.8 million lari to the state budget.
Medianews.az reports that the decision was issued on September 29 by the Tbilisi City Court based on a claim by the Ministry of Finance.
The Ministry of Finance filed the civil claim after the ruling of the capital's court dated March 12, 2025. By that ruling, Mikheil Saakashvili was found guilty of embezzling the funds of the Special State Protection Service during his presidency, in the years 2009-2012, and was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment, while Teymuraz Janashia was fined 300 thousand lari.
Mikheil Saakashvili has been sentenced to a total of 12 years and 6 months imprisonment by three other rulings.
Born in 1967, Mikheil Saakashvili held the presidential post from 2004 to 2013.
The former president, who has been living in Ukraine since 2015, was deprived of Georgian citizenship after acquiring citizenship in that country.
After leaving Georgia in 2013, two judgments in absentia were issued against Mikheil Saakashvili.
On January 5, 2018, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced the former president to 3 years imprisonment on charges of abuse of office in connection with the case of banker Sandro Girgvliani.
Sandro Girgvliani was killed in 2006. Mikheil Saakashvili, who became president in 2008, pardoned four police officers detained in connection with this murder case, and they were released.
On June 28, 2018, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Mikheil Saakashvili to 6 years imprisonment. The former president was found guilty of organizing an attack on parliament member Valeri Gelashvili in 2005.
In 2005, when Mikheil Saakashvili was the head of state, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs beat Valeri Gelashvili in Tbilisi. The deputy was hospitalized with severe injuries. Valeri Gelashvili stated that he regarded the attack as ordered by the president.
Returning to Georgia on September 29, 2021, the former president was detained in the capital Tbilisi on October 1. On October 20, Mikheil Saakashvili was charged with illegally crossing the state border. It was revealed that on September 29, he arrived secretly from Ukraine by ship to the Georgian port city of Poti, and on the same day went first to Batumi and then to Tbilisi.
The former president is ill and has been receiving treatment at the "Vivamedi" Medical Center in Tbilisi since May 12, 2022.
Five days after being sentenced to 9 years imprisonment on March 12, 2025, on March 17, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced the former president to 4 years and 6 months imprisonment. The politician was found guilty of illegally crossing the state border.
Mikheil Saakashvili has one ongoing trial. The process underway at the Tbilisi City Court concerns charges of abuse of office. On November 7, 2007, Mikheil Saakashvili is accused of being responsible for violence by special forces during an opposition rally, causing destruction at the "Imedi" TV channel office, and confiscation of the property of businessman and politician Badri Patarkatsishvili (who died in 2008).
In Georgia, a parliamentary republic, the government is formed by the party that gains the majority in the legislative body. In the parliamentary elections of 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024, the Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia Party won and formed the government. Mikheil Saakashvili takes a firm opposition stance towards the government.
Togrul Ali,
Medianews.az
