Saakashvili Found Guilty and Fined for Illegally Crossing Ukrainian Border

The Lviv Region’s Mostyska District Court has pronounced former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili guilty and sentenced him to a $129 (3,400 UAH) fine for illegally crossing Ukraine’s state border.

Yuriy Bilous, a Mostyska District Court judge, announced the decision on September 22.

Saakashvili, who built his political career in Ukraine by serving as governor of the Odesa region in 2015-2016 and later founding and heading the New Forces political party, was not present at the hearing. The politician was at one of his meet and greets in the Cherkasy region, as part of his previously announced Ukrainian tour.

In July, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stripped Saakashvili of his Ukrainian citizenship. Then, on September 10, Saakashvili broke through the Ukrainian border from Poland. He was helped by a big crowd of supporters who pushed through law enforcement officers and carried the Georgian-born politician on to Ukrainian territory.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior Affairs, 11 police officers and five border guards were injured as a result. It later emerged that the police had also detained five people.

READ MORE: Saakashvili’s Return: Ukrainian Officials React​

/Text by Serhiy Pyvovarov

/Translated and adapted by Maria Romanenko