Saakashvili sentenced in Georgia to 3 years in absentia
Mikheil Saakashvili
MOSCOW â A court in Georgia on Friday sentenced  former President Mikheil Saakashvili  in absentia to three years in prison for abusing  his  power in the pardoning of four policemen convicted of murdering a banker.
Saakashvili  who was president 2004-13  left Georgia when his presidency ended and eventually went to Ukraine  where he had been appointed governor of the Odessa region. He resigned in 2016 and harshly criticized President Petro Poroshenko. The Ukrainian leader last year stripped Saakashvili of his citizenship while he was abroad;  Saakashvili  returned to Ukraine in September and has led a series of protests against the government.
A court in the Georgian capital  Tbilisi  sentenced  Saakashvili  on Friday. Georgia has requested Saakashviliâs extradition  but Ukraine has not complied.
The verdict âis completely illegal and contradicts all international  national norms and common sense â  Saakashvili  said on Facebook. âJudging  the president  for using the right to pardon  which is not limited in any way  speaks about the completely political nature of this process.â
The countryâs politics is dominated by a collation headed by the Georgian Dream party  which arose in opposition to  Saakashvili .
 Saakashvili âs conviction stems from the 2006 beating death of banker Sandro Girgvliani.  His  body was found the morning after  he  had been involved in an argument with Interior Ministry officials in a Tbilisi cafe. Critics said the investigation of the killing was carried out poorly and reluctantly;  Saakashvili  was a close associate of then-Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili.
MOSCOW â A court in Georgia on Friday sentenced   [TGT] in absentia to three years in prison for abusing   [TGT]   power in the pardoning of four policemen convicted of murdering a banker.
Saakashvili  who was president 2004-13  left Georgia when his presidency ended and eventually went to Ukraine  where he had been appointed governor of the Odessa region. He resigned in 2016 and harshly criticized President Petro Poroshenko. The Ukrainian leader last year stripped Saakashvili of his citizenship while he was abroad;   [TGT] returned to Ukraine in September and has led a series of protests against the government.
A court in the Georgian capital  Tbilisi  sentenced  Saakashvili  on Friday. Georgia has requested Saakashviliâs extradition  but Ukraine has not complied.
The verdict âis completely illegal and contradicts all international  national norms and common sense â   [TGT] said on Facebook. âJudging  the president  for using the right to pardon  which is not limited in any way  speaks about the completely political nature of this process.â
The countryâs politics is dominated by a collation headed by the Georgian Dream party  which arose in opposition to  Saakashvili .
  [TGT]  âs conviction stems from the 2006 beating death of banker Sandro Girgvliani.   [TGT]   body was found the morning after   [TGT]   had been involved in an argument with Interior Ministry officials in a Tbilisi cafe. Critics said the investigation of the killing was carried out poorly and reluctantly;   [TGT] was a close associate of then-Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili.