Tbilisi City Court has denied bail to Zurab and Shalva Tsotsoria, who are currently detained for transporting ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili to Georgia’s western region of Samegrelo after he illegally crossed into Georgia several days ago.
The defence demanded bail of 5,000 GEL for each individual.
Prosecutor Giorgi Khachidze said Zurab and Shalva Tsotsoria knew that Saakashvili was wanted by Georgian law enforcement officers for serious crimes. Nevertheless, they transported him to a village in Samegrelo on September 29.
Khachidze also noted there is a chance that Zurab and Shalva Tsotsoria may go on the run or influence witnesses if released on bail.
Police detained Shalva and Zurab Tsotsoria on October 3.
On October 4, Tbilisi City Court has also denied bail to Elguja Tsomaia, the owner of flat where Mikheil Saakashvili was detained.
Prosecutor Levan Vepkhvadze said Tsomaia knew that Saakashvili was wanted by Georgian law enforcement officers for serious crimes. Nevertheless, he handed over his apartment to Saakashvili for temporary residence and hiding.
Mikheil Saakashvili, who is a citizen of Ukraine, was detained in Tbilisi on October 1.
Saakashvili, who served as Georgia’s president in 2003-2013, is charged with several criminal offences including the violent dispersal of anti-government mass protests on November 7, 2007, raiding of TV channel Imedi by riot police, and the illegal seizure of the property.
In a letter from the Rustavi detention facility ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili said all criminal accusations against him are false. Saakashvili also said that when he ‘left everything in Kyiv’ and arrived in Georgia he was aware that ‘most probably’ he would be detained.