Former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili has already been taken to Tbilisi City Court to attend a trial hearing concerning the illegal dispersal of an opposition rally in central Tbilisi on November 7, 2007 in which Saakashvili is charged with the abuse of power, IPN says.
Neither journalists, nor opposition activists are allowed into the court’s yard. The law enforcement are present at the scene to ensure safety.
Saakashvili was not allowed to attend three trial hearings in cases concerning him in previous days as, according to the government, the opposition had plans to cause unrest at the court or on the streets during the transportation of the former president to Tbilisi City Court.
In a Facebook post last week, Saakashvili himself urged supporters to hold the rally stating that ‘this will be an opportunity for me to address you for the first time in two months (since his arrest in Tbilisi on October 1).’
Saakashvili called off his hunger strike on November 19 after he accepted his transfer to Gori military hospital for treatment.
Following this, the Georgian Justice Ministry said that the former president could be taken to the court to attend trial hearings concerning him.
Saakashvili, who is now a citizen of Ukraine and is holding an official post there, says that he returned after eight years in political exile ‘to remove the Georgian Dream government from power.’
He was convicted in absentia in Georgia back in 2018 for abuse of power and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Saakashvili has also been charged with five other offences, including illegal seizure of property, embezzlement, abuse of power, illegally crossing the border and illegal rally dispersal.
