Georgia may initiate new criminal case against ex-president

Executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party Mamuka Mdinaradze has said that the information about the private flights of Georgian ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili at public expense should become the basis for launching an investigation against the politician.

“Everyone agrees that it is a crime when the president uses charter flights. A new big criminal fact has actually been confirmed. I think that this should be the basis for launching an investigation,” Mdinaradze said, according to “Sputnik.Georgia” Telegram channel.

According to the local media, during his presidency, Saakashvili spent at least 14 million lari (about $5.3 million) on private visits under a framework agreement between the country’s Defence Ministry and Georgian Airways. The Georgian Defence Ministry has already promised to declassify all documents related to the politician’s flights at the expense of budgetary funds.

Saakashvili secretly returned to his homeland in mid-autumn 2021, despite several criminal cases against him. As a result, the ex-president was arrested and imprisoned. Saakashvili himself called his detention politicised and went on a hunger strike. Subsequently, the ex-president’s health condition greatly deteriorated. He was transferred from prison to a clinic for a check-up in May 2022.

Saakashvili also has Ukrainian citizenship.

Amid the politician’s severe health condition, various European countries and Ukraine began to demand Saakashvili’s transfer abroad for medical treatment. Footage showing very thin Saakashvili at a court hearing went viral in early July 2023. In response, Ukrainian officials summoned the Georgian ambassador calling on the Georgian side to hand over the Georgian ex-president for medical treatment.