Tbilisi court rules to leave Saakashvili in custody

TBILISI. Dec 24 (Interfax) - The Tbilisi City Court ruled on Tuesday to leave former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in pretrial custody during an investigation into a criminal case on an illegal border crossing in 2021.

The court dismissed objections from Saakashvili's defense lawyers arguing that, apart from this criminal investigation, Saakashvili is serving a six-year prison term in line with previous convictions.

The court is expected to hand down its ruling on the latest case soon.

Some Georgian experts suggested that the court might have ruled to extend the term of Saakashvili's pretrial custody in the border violation case in view of President Salome Zourabichvili's possible decision to pardon him.

In line with the Georgian constitution, Zourabichvili is supposed to leave office on December 29. Even if she pardons Saakashvili, he will still be unable to walk free as he is currently in pretrial detention and is possibly facing a new conviction.

Saakashvili secretly arrived in Georgia from abroad on September 29, 2021. He was detained in Tbilisi on October 1 and then put in jail in the city of Rustavi, where he went on a hunger strike. On November 8, Saakashvili was transferred to a prison hospital in Tbilisi without the consent of his relatives or lawyers. He was taken to a military hospital in the town of Gori on November 20. On May 12, 2022, Saakashvili was moved to the Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi, where he is currently staying.

Several criminal cases were opened against Saakashvili in Georgia. He called his detention unlawful and the charges brought against him falsified.