Saakashvili faces new charges of constitutional sabotage in Georgia

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been charged with “sabotaging the constitutional order,” the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced on November 6.

Prosecutor General Giorgi Gvarakidze said the investigation concerns alleged crimes “against the state,” Caliber.Az reports via Georgian media.

“Criminal proceedings have been launched for offences including sabotage, assisting a foreign power in hostile activities, financing actions directed against the foundations of constitutional order and national security, and incitement to the violent overthrow of the constitutional system or state power,” Gvarakidze said.

Alongside Saakashvili, several prominent opposition figures have also been charged, including Giorgi Vashadze, Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Zurab Japaridze, Elene Khoshtaria, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze.

The accusations relate to political developments in Georgia following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

Some of the charges carry penalties of up to 15 years in prison.

Saakashvili, born in 1967, led Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution and served as president from 2004 to 2013. A pro-Western reformer, he fought corruption and grew the economy, but faced criticism for authoritarianism and social issues.

His tenure ended amid protests, leading to exile in Ukraine, where he gained citizenship, governed Odessa (2015-2016), and later challenged President Petro Poroshenko.

He returned secretly in 2021, was arrested, and convicted on abuse-of-power charges (six years), later extended for embezzlement and illegal entry—sentences he and supporters call politically motivated by the Georgian Dream government.

By Aghakazim Guliyev