Georgia’s ex-leader Saakashvili handed 9 years in prison – POLITICO

Georgia’s former President Mikheil Saakashvili was sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty in an embezzlement case, local media reported Wednesday.

Opposition figurehead Saakashvili was first charged in absentia in 2014 of abuse of power and has been in detention since October 2021 after he returned to his homeland — where the government has lurched toward Russia in recent years — from self-imposed exile in Ukraine.

He denies the charges, saying they are politically motivated. Widespread reports have covered his declining health, with Saakashvili spending much of his sentence in a prison hospital.