A Georgia Court has issued a further prison sentence to the former president, Mikheil Saakashvili.
Sakashvili was sentenced to four and a half years behind the grilles on Monday and illegally crossing the border when he returned to the country from exile in 2021, his lawyer said.
It is already fulfilling concurrent terms for embezzlement and abuse of power during office, taking its sentence to more than 12 years.
Sakashvili has always denied the offenses and has called his last « illegal » and « unfair » sentence. Rights groups say that their imprisonment is politically motivated.
Sakashvili opposes the Georgia Dream Party, which favors the narrowest bonds with Russia. As President, he sought to maintain louder relationships with western governments.
In a video posted on X on Monday of the hospital where he is detained, Saakashvili said, « No matter what, I will fight until the end. »
The former president was sentenced last week to nine years in the grilles for embezzlement, running next to the prison period that had already been at the service. In 2018, he was tried in absentee and convicted of two separate trials.
Sakashvili was arrested in 2021 after returning to Georgia ahead of local election in the country smuggling in the country in a Ukraine ferry.
He requested massive antique manifestations, but was quickly arrested by Georgia authorities.
The 57 -year -old had directed Georgia for two terms between 2004 and 2013. Since leaving the country, he has lived in Ukraine.
He was granted Ukrainian citizenship in 2015, giving up his Georgian citizenship when he became governor of the Ukraine Odesa region.
Its citizenship was revoked in 2017 before being restored again by President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019.
« This (phrase) is basically sending a message … to President Zelensky, to be scared to show what happens when you do not give up your country … I did not deliver to Georgia, » Saakashvili said to his video address while carrying a black shirt with the words « I am Ukrainian ».
Zelensky, who named Sakashvili to monitor the reforms in Ukraine, has demanded his transfer to Kiev.
He has earlier accused Russia of « killing » Sakashvili « at the hands of Georgian authorities. »
The European Union has repeatedly requested the immediate release of Saakashvili from prison, expressing his concern about his deterioration of health.
The Watchdog of Rights of the Council of Europe has marked a « political prisoner », while Amnesty International has called its treatment « an apparent political revenge ».
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