During the trial, Mikhail Saakashvili noted that the real reasons for his persecution are not related to attempts to overthrow the government, but to "offending the shark from Bidzina Ivanishvili's aquarium," who is the founder of the ruling party "Georgian Dream."
The conflict between the former president and Judge Bugianishvili began when the judge suggested that Saakashvili take a seat in the defendants' bench. However, the former president, calling himself "not a schoolboy," insisted on standing, as he believes this is the right decision. During the session, he also complained about mistreatment from the bailiffs and described the judge as "an unscrupulous person," which forced Bugianishvili to threaten him with removal from the courtroom.
Last year, the main prosecutor's office of Georgia initiated a sixth criminal case against Mikhail Saakashvili, accusing him under Article 317 of the Criminal Code of Georgia of "calling for violent change and overthrow of state power." Prosecutors presented screenshots and excerpts from his statements on social media to the court. According to this article, the punishment can be up to three years of imprisonment.
Mikhail Saakashvili, who served as president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013, was detained on September 29, 2021, after secretly returning from Ukraine to Georgia by ferry, hiding in a container with dairy products. At that time, he already had a sentence in absentia from a Tbilisi court for three and six years of imprisonment.
On March 17, 2025, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced him on a combination of charges of embezzlement, gross abuse of office, and illegal crossing of the border, imposing a 12.5-year prison sentence. Thus, Mikhail Saakashvili will only be able to be released in April 2034.
