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.
A peace agreement between Washington and Tehran is yet to materialise, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying that negotiations are incomplete and a...
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Monday it had authorised 32 vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran and Wash...
Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) resumed passenger services between Baku and Tbilisi on 25 May, with the first train departing Baku Railway Station at 23:10...
Doctors working on the front lines of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo say attacks on treatment centres and fleeing patients are...
Russia has warned foreign nationals to leave Kyiv, saying it has launched a new wave of strikes targeting Ukraine’s defence industry and military co...
Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) resumed passenger services between Baku and Tbilisi on 25 May, with the first train departing Baku Railway Station at 23:10 local time after a six-year suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the first time in decades, Armenia has rail access to the EU. The Akhalkalaki–Kars corridor, running through Georgia into Türkiye, is now officially open for Armenian cargo - a quiet but consequential shift in the region’s economic geography.
Passenger rail services between Baku and Tbilisi are expected to resume in 2026, after being suspended in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and regional border restrictions.
Georgia’s parliament speaker has accused Britain of “blatant hypocrisy” after London quietly allowed Russian-origin oil products into the country - a move UK officials had reportedly urged Tbilisi to avoid.
The inaugural Enhanced Games began in Las Vegas on Sunday (24 May), launching one of the most controversial experiments in modern sport, in which athletes openly compete using performance-enhancing drugs banned under traditional anti-doping rules.
A peace agreement between Washington and Tehran is yet to materialise, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying that negotiations are incomplete and an Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman saying that a deal isn't imminent.
A "largely negotiated" memorandum of understanding on an Iran peace deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday, though the Iranian Fars news agency disputed that claim.
The World Health Organization warned on Monday that the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda was outpacing response efforts, with 220 suspected deaths reported so far.
Police fired tear gas and clashed with protesters in central Belgrade on Saturday, as tens of thousands gathered to demand early elections and an end to the more than decade-long rule of Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić.
Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) resumed passenger services between Baku and Tbilisi on 25 May, with the first train departing Baku Railway Station at 23:10 local time after a six-year suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the first time in decades, Armenia has rail access to the EU. The Akhalkalaki–Kars corridor, running through Georgia into Türkiye, is now officially open for Armenian cargo - a quiet but consequential shift in the region’s economic geography.
The Kremlin warned on Monday that Armenia could lose the “very attractive” price it pays for Russian gas if it moved away from integration with Russia and deepened ties with the European Union.
Uzbekistan has unveiled its final squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marking the country’s first appearance at football’s biggest tournament. The national team, led by Italian head coach Fabio Cannavaro, will compete at the tournament hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Nearly half of Afghanistan’s population - more than 21 million people - needed humanitarian assistance in the first three months of 2026, according to the United Nations, yet aid agencies reached only 4.7 million people.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment