Verdict in Saakashvili’s border crossing case upheld

The Court of Appeal has decided to uphold without a hearing the verdict against Georgia’s third President Mikhail Saakashvili in the case on illegal border crossing. The lack of consideration violated the Mikhail Saakashvili’s right to a fair trial, the defence claims.

The Court of Appeal upheld the Mikhail Saakashvili’s border crossing verdict without an oral court hearing, the “Pirveli” TV company reports today.

Advocate Beka Basilaya claims that upholding the verdict without an oral hearing violated the Mikhail Saakashvili’s right to a fair trial.

“Instead of holding court hearings, the Court of Appeal, without an oral hearing, in an unprecedentedly short time, issued a decision to uphold the decision of the first instance court, meaning that Mikhail Saakashvili was effectively deprived of the right to an appeal hearing,” Beka Basilaya stated.

The advocate claimed that during the appeal hearings they wanted to explain why the final sentence of 12 years and 6 months of imprisonment pronounced against Mikhail Saakashvili had been unfounded.

“The judge ignored the requirements of the Criminal Code of Georgia, combined the sentences in an unprecedented manner, and sentenced Mikhail Saakashvili to 12 years and 6 months of imprisonment as the final punishment. We substantiated the decision with a number of arguments, including this argumentation, based not only on our legal position, but also on the established practice of the court, according which sentences are not combined in a similar manner and for a similar amount,” the “Mtavari Arkhi” TV Company quoted the advocate as stating.

Beka Basilaya has also noted that the today’s decision is “further evidence that within the framework of the political persecution of Mikhail Saakashvili,” he “cannot enjoy basic procedural rights.”

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 20, 2025 at 06:39 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.