**Tbilisi Court Sentences Ex-President Saakashvili to 9 Years**
A court in Tbilisi has found the country’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, guilty of embezzling government funds. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison.
Saakashvili was accused of being part of a group that stole 9 million Georgian Lari (around $3.5 million USD) from the budget. His co-defendant, Teimuraz Janashia, was fined 300,000 GEL ($95,000).
The judge, Badri Kochlamazashvili, delivered the verdict. Saakashvili and Janashia did not attend the hearing. According to the court, Saakashvili wanted to postpone his trial until he recovered from an illness.
Both men denied any wrongdoing and claimed they were innocent of the charges against them.