World
Georgia ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili handed second prison sentence
Saakashvili was found guilty of illegal border crossing and given a second prison sentence of four and a half years on Monday, in addition to his existing sentence on charges of abuse of power and embezzlement.
A Georgian court sentenced former President Mikheil Saakashvili to another prison term on Monday, extending his imprisonment time to 12 and a half years.
Saakashvili, who served as Georgia’s president from 2004-2013, had previously been sentenced on charges of abuse of power and embezzlement that he and his defence have rejected as politically motivated.
Judge Badri Kochlamazashvili sentenced the 57-year-old ex-president to an extra four years and six months on charges of illegal border crossing, adding time to his existing sentence.
Speaking by videoconference, Saakashvili dismissed the verdict as an “absolutely illegal, unjust sentencing of me for crimes I have not committed.”
“They want to annihilate me in prison,” he said. “But no matter what, I will fight till the end,” he vowed.
According to his lawyer, Beka Basilaia, Monday’s verdict “again showed that Saakashvili is a political prisoner.”
Saakashvili, a controversial reformist
Saakashvili is also accused of repressing demonstrators who claimed that his fervour had turned into dictatorship.
The former president, who led the country in a more pro-Western direction, led the so-called Rose Revolution protests in 2003 that drove his predecessor out of office and enacted a series of ambitious reforms tackling official corruption.
In 2008, he oversaw a brief but intense war with Russia that ended with the humiliating loss of the remaining Georgian bases in two separatist territories.
His reign was brought to an end in the 2012 election when the then newly formed Georgian Dream Party defeated Saakashvili’s United National Movement party.
Saakashvili left for Ukraine in 2013 and became a citizen. From 2015 to 2016, he governed the southern Odesa region.
However, he was swiftly detained when he returned to Georgia in October 2021 in an attempt to strengthen opposition forces before the national municipal elections.
Georgian Dream accused of influencing verdict
Saakashvili’s lawyer on Monday accused the ruling Georgian Dream of influencing the latest extension of the ex-Georgian leader’s prison term.
“As long as Georgian Dream remains in power, the judiciary is a farce and will make whatever decision it is instructed to,” Basilaia said.
Since 2012, when Saakashvili was ousted from office, the Georgian Dream Party has remained in power and itself has recently been facing criticisms and popular protests on allegations of a crackdown on democratic freedoms.
ADVERTISEMENTThe party is also accused of steering the country away from the path toward European Union membership and back into Russia’s sphere of influence.
After going on multiple hunger strikes, Saakashvili is currently being treated at the Vivamedi facility, where he is being monitored for a number of chronic illnesses, according to the clinic.
new video loaded: First Round of U.S.-Iran Talks End, Mediators Say
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First Round of U.S.-Iran Talks End, Mediators Say
The first round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran in Switzerland ended with a “roadmap” to reach a final deal within 60 days, Pakistani and Qatari mediators said.
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Can we turn over a new leaf? Can we change relations in the Middle East permanently? Or, do we go back to doing things the old way, which is not our preference, but is certainly very much something that can happen. Thank you all for being here.
By Jiwoong Hong
June 22, 2026
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The U.S. military on Sunday announced a lethal strike on another vessel in the Caribbean carrying alleged narco-traffickers, killing two people.
The U.S. Southern Command said it conducted a “lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations” at the direction of the leader of the Southern Command, Gen. Francis L. Donovan of the Marine Corps.
The military claimed, citing intelligence, that the vessel “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.”
ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTS KILLED AS US FORCES STRIKE SUSPECTED DRUG-TRAFFICKING VESSEL IN CARIBBEAN
A U.S. military strike on a vessel in the Caribbean on June 21, 2026. (U.S. Southern Command)
There were six male survivors in addition to the two men killed in the strike.
“Following the engagement, USSOUTHCOM immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors,” the military said.
This is the latest attack that the Trump administration has said was launched in an attempt to eliminate alleged narco-terrorists, with the death toll in these strikes carried out since September sitting at more than 200.
The military claimed, citing intelligence, that the vessel “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” (U.S. Southern Command)
The Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed in the strikes since last fall or provide evidence of drugs on board.
The administration has been scrutinized in recent months over the strikes by Democrats and even some Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has raised concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people.
RAND PAUL SAYS GOP COLLEAGUES ‘DON’T GIVE A S‑‑T ABOUT THESE PEOPLE IN THE BOATS’: THEY ‘SAY THEY’RE PRO-LIFE’
The Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed in the strikes since last fall or provide evidence of drugs on board. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
“I look at my colleagues who say they’re pro-life, and they value God’s inspiration in life, but they don’t give a s‑‑- about these people in the boats,” Paul said in January. “Are they terrible people in the boats? I don’t know. They’re probably poor people in Venezuela and Colombia.”
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The senator previously cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.
The attacks have also been denounced by human rights groups as “extrajudicial killings.”
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