Georgia’s ex-leader Saakashvili goes on trial after hunger strike
Al JazeeraThe trial of former President Mikheil Saakashvili resumes amid a possible six-year jail term for abuse of office. Georgian police have arrested dozens of opposition supporters who rallied outside the court where ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili faced trial on abuse of office charges which he has denounced as politically motivated. “I do not recognise the Prosecutor’s Office and the Georgian judiciary, I am not here to be part of a pre-written comedy,” Saakashvili said before the trial began, according to Georgia’s IPN news agency. “Prosecutors have failed to present any evidence of Saakashvili’s wrongdoing.” ‘An extraordinary tale’ Al Jazeera’s Robin Forestier-Walker, reporting from Tbilisi, said the background of the trial was “really quite an extraordinary tale”. Amnesty International has condemned Saakashvili’s treatment and branded it “not just selective justice but apparent political revenge”.
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Georgia’s jailed ex-leader Saakashvili ends 50-day hunger strike
Al Jazeera
Georgians rally to back jailed ex-president on hunger strike
Associated Press
Georgia arrests ex-President Saakashvili after return from exile
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