Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili was sentenced on Wednesday to nine more years in prison after being found guilty of embezzlement, the Interpress news agency reported.
Saakashvili, who was president from 2004 to 2013, was jailed for six years for abuse of power after he returned to Georgia in 2021 after a spell abroad. He has spent much of that sentence in a prison hospital.
Georgian television showed scenes of commotion in the courtroom after the verdict was announced, with Saakashvili supporters calling the judge a "slave" of the present government.
A deeply polarising figure in Georgia today, Saakashvili rose to power on a tide of popular acclaim in the 2003 Rose Revolution.
In power, he reorientated Georgia towards the West and embarked on an ambitious public sector reform program that delivered rapid improvements in the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million.
However, the latter part of his tenure was marked by authoritarianism, police brutality, and a disastrous 2008 war with Russia.
In 2012, his United National Movement party lost an election to a coalition headed by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire businessman who remains Georgia's de facto leader to this day.
After leaving office, Saakashvili moved to Ukraine, where he briefly served as governor of the southern Odesa region.
In 2021, he returned to Georgia, despite having been convicted in absentia of abuse of power. He was arrested and jailed on arrival.
Following the announcement of the extension of the Canada-led NATO mission in Latvia, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa said that cooperation withi...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Türkiye, Gulf states or European nations could host potential talks with Russian Preside...
Space X will attempt to launch its super heavy booster rocket, Starship tonight after it was postponed on Monday night due to weather conditions at it...
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants to commence denuclearization talks with Russia and China, revisiting an issue he raised earlier as he al...
Belgium’s prime minister Bart De Wever has called for Russian assets frozen since the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine to remain in the Euroclear sec...
The South Caucasus is going through one of its most dynamic periods in decades. After years of tension, Armenia and Azerbaijan are moving closer to a final peace deal.
Tbilisi and Strasbourg are facing an escalating political standoff as Georgia’s democratic trajectory and its European aspirations collide with sharp criticism from European institutions.
Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, hails the Alaska summit between U.S. President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as confirmation of their long-standing warnings about the risks the country narrowly avoided.
Ankara and Tbilisi pledged to enhance "strategic partnership" in pursuit of peace in the Black Sea and Caucasus regions, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted his Georgian counterpart, Mikheil Kavelashvili, in Ankara on Tuesday.
A powerful eruption at Japan’s Shinmoedake volcano sent an ash plume more than 3,000 metres high on Sunday morning, prompting safety warnings from authorities.
According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico on Saturday.
The UK is gearing up for Exercise Pegasus 2025, its largest pandemic readiness test since COVID-19. Running from September to November, this full-scale simulation will challenge the country's response to a fast-moving respiratory outbreak.
Kuwait says oil prices will likely stay below $72 per barrel as OPEC monitors global supply trends and U.S. policy signals. The remarks come during market uncertainty fueled by new U.S. tariffs on India and possible sanctions on Russia.
Türkiye is facing a severe drought that is impacting water resources, shrinking reservoirs and unprecedented shortages affecting daily life, agriculture, and industry.
Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have strengthened trilateral cooperation, enhancing ties among the Turkic states around the Caspian Sea.
Mohammad Sadr, a member of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council, said in a video interview that Moscow had likely shared sensitive Iranian military data with Israel, enabling precise attacks on air defence sites.
Tajikistan will receive a $50 million concessionary loan to support the construction of the Rogun Hydropwer Plant from the Qatar Development Fund.
Istanbul has stepped up its tsunami preparedness; two districts in the city are joining a UNESCO-backed project to improve early warnings and drills.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment