Court orders ex-President Saakashvili, former State Protection Service Head to reimburse state budget

The Tbilisi City Court on Monday upheld the Ministry of Finance’s request to recover embezzled funds, ordering the seizure of nearly ₾9 million ($3.3 mln) in favour of the state budget. The court ruled that the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and Temur Janashia, the former Head of the Special State Protection Service under the previous UNM Government, must collectively pay this sum.

The Tbilisi Court of Appeals confirmed the lower court’s ruling in the case involving large-scale embezzlement of public funds. Both Saakashvili and Janashia will face unchanged sentences.

Specifically, the panel of judges left unchanged the 9-year prison sentence for Saakashvili and the fine of ₾300,000 ($111,111) for Teimuraz Janashia.

Prosecutors allege that the defendants were involved in the large-scale embezzlement of ₾9 million from the state budget.
Saakashvili’s lawyer, Beka Basilia, rejected the accusations.