Former police official charged for helping Saakashvili cross border illegally

It is the second charge against former deputy interior minister Giorgi Lortkipanidze (R). Photo: video grab.

Agenda.ge, 10 Dec 2021 - 12:06, Tbilisi,Georgia

Former deputy interior minister under the United National Movement government Giorgi Lortkipanidze has been charged for helping former president Mikheil Saakashvili cross the border from Ukraine to Georgia illegally at the end of September of this year. 

The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office says that Lortkipanidze was aware of Saakashvili’s plans to return to Georgia ahead of October 2 municipal elections, and he offered suggestions about how this could be done. 

The Prosecutor's Office says that Lorkipanidze contacted one Elguja Tsomaia in Georgia whose truck was later used to transport Saakashvili from Ukraine to Georgia. 

This is the second charge against Lortkipanidze. 

He has already been charged with abuse of power for a crackdown on opposition demonstrators in central Tbilisi in 2011. 

Saakashvili, who is a citizen of Ukraine and holds an official post in the country in the National Reforms Council, was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after eight years in political exile. 

He claims he returned to help the opposition remove the Georgian Dream government from power.