Georgian Court Upholds Arrest of Ex-President Saakashvili in Border Crossing Case

The Tbilisi City Court has decided to maintain the arrest of former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili as a preventive measure in connection with his case of illegal border crossing, despite his ongoing sentence in other legal matters.

In Tuesday’s hearing, Saakashvili's lawyer Beka Basilaya filed a motion to cancel the arrest after the stage of studying the evidence in court in the case of illegal border crossing was completed, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

According to the lawyer, there were no grounds for such a preventive measure, because the court is to announce the verdict in the case soon and the former president is already in custody.

Judge Mikhail Jinjolia explained that there remained a risk Saakashvili might escape or commit a new crime, so the motion to cancel the arrest was rejected.

On August 2, the Tbilisi City Court chose Saakashvili's arrest in the case of illegal border crossing as a measure of restraint. The judge explained there was a risk of pressure on witnesses or destruction of evidence, as well as of the defendant committing more crimes. The prosecution's request for Saakashvili's arrest was sustained.