The Georgian General Prosecutor's Office said that criminal charges have been filed against former UNM Deputy Interior Minister Giorgi Lortkipanidze for assisting ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili in unlawfully crossing Georgia's state boundary on September 28-29. Lortkipanidze will be charged with breaking Articles 25 and 344 of the Criminal Code, helping in illegal border crossing, providing adequate conditions to cross the border unlawfully, and faces a sentence of 3 to 5 years in jail, according to the prosecution.
Lortkipanidze was aware of Saakashvili's plans, according to the prosecution, and planned "when, by what means, by what route, and in what way" the ex-President might discreetly return to Georgia from Ukraine. According to the prosecution, Lortkipanidze contacted Elguja Tsomaia, one of four people jailed as Saakashvili's collaborators in the case, in April 2021 and encouraged him to take Mikheil Saakashvili to Georgia in his cargo truck "in exchange for some help."
Tsomaia landed in Ukraine on September 20 at Lortkipanidze's request, according to the prosecution. On September 26, Saakashvili was taken to the Chernomorsk port in Ukraine in Lortkipanidze's automobile. He apparently concealed in a "pre-arranged hiding" in the cabin of Tsomaia's truck, which was loaded onto the ship "Vilnius," which arrived late on September 28 at the Poti port in Georgia.
In addition, Giorgi Lortkipanidze is charged in another case. He is accused of abusing his official authority by using violence to disperse an anti-government protest demonstration in Tbilisi in May 2011, while serving as a Deputy to then-Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili. Tbilisi City Court is now hearing the matter.
Mikheil Saakashvili, who arrived in Georgia on September 28-29, was arrested on the eve of municipal elections on October 1. The prosecution accused him of crossing the border illegally as well as misusing GEL 9 million and exceeding his power during the crackdown on anti-government protesters on November 7, 2007 and following events.
