On March 17, Tbilisi City Court Judge Mikheil Jinjolia found former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili guilty of illegally crossing the state border under Article 344 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to four years and six months in prison.

Earlier, on March 12, Judge Badri Kochmalazashvili found the former president guilty of embezzling a large amount of budget funds in the so-called “Jackets” case and sentenced him to nine years in prison.

“Finally, based on the totality of the verdicts, the main punishment for Mikheil Saakashvili is 12 years and six months in prison,” Judge Mikheil Jinjolia said when announcing the decision. Saakashvili has been in prison since October 2021.

The judge applied the provision of the Criminal Code, which states that “if a set of crimes consists of grave or especially grave offenses, the sentences determined for these crimes shall be partially or fully combined when imposing the final sentence. In addition, the term of the final sentence imposed in the form of fixed-term imprisonment shall not exceed twenty-five years.”

The investigation into the illegal border crossing began on October 1, 2021, when Saakashvili was arrested after secretly returning to Georgia from Ukraine on the night of September 28–29, just before the 2021 local elections.

Four other individuals—Elguja Tsomaia, Zurab Tsotsoria, Shalva Tsotsoria, and Giorgi Narimanidze—were also charged in the border crossing case. Their cases are being heard separately after they were released on bail of 5,000 GEL each in January 2022.

Saakashvili had previously been sentenced to six years in prison for organizing the pardon of police officers involved in the high-profile murder of Sandro Girgvliani, abuse of authority, and intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm. The latter charge stemmed from an attack on opposition MP Valeri Gelashvili.

Following the announcement of the latest verdict, Saakashvili issued a strongly worded statement, denouncing the ruling as politically motivated. He accused Georgia’s ruling establishment, led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, of orchestrating his prosecution as part of a broader strategy to suppress opposition and appease Russian interests.

"I want to respond to the series of butchery, illegal, shameful decisions that Ivanishvili's Russian 'injustice factory' has made, practically sentencing me to destruction in prison and physical extermination. They are destroying and exterminating a person who wanted everything for Georgia and for the people. They are punishing me for not surrendering the country in 2008, for bringing Adjara back under Georgian jurisdiction in 2004, for fighting corruption, and for striving to make Georgia a successful state.

If anyone truly believes I am being sentenced for sending a few sheep to Azerbaijani fellow citizens for a holiday, for buying jackets, a tie, and a coat, or for crossing the border when I was given no legal way to enter Georgia, I cannot explain anything to them. But I doubt anyone in the world actually believes this.

This is not just about me—this is a message to the Georgian people, a threat to all my supporters, and even a warning to President Zelensky, suggesting that if he does not surrender Ukraine, he will face the same fate.

But I will remain dangerous to them both in prison and even in death because my name will always be associated with the fight for freedom. They may try to destroy me, but they cannot kill the idea of Georgia’s freedom! They cannot kill the soul of Saakashvili!

This retribution has its authors, and they must face a strict response from the Georgian people. We must fight, and we will win—there is no other way!"

Saakashvili’s imprisonment has been a point of significant political controversy in Georgia and has drawn international criticism, with human rights groups and Western leaders expressing concerns over his treatment and the fairness of his trials. His supporters view him as a political prisoner, while the Georgian government maintains that his convictions stem from legitimate legal processes.