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Georgia opens criminal case against ex-president

By WTOP Staff

MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI
Associated Press

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgian authorities say they are opening a criminal case against former president Mikhail Saakashvili.

Prosecutors in the small Caucasus nation made the announcement Monday after Saakashvili failed to appear before investigators for questioning. He has failed to appear for questioning previously in trials against his political allies.

Officials charged Saakashvili with illegally breaking up a 2007 protest, taking over a television station and seizing the property of a businessman.

Saakashvili wrote Monday on Facebook that he believed the case is politically motivated and that he has no plans “to participate in this farce.”

The ex-president, who was at the helm during the 2008 war with Russia, was routed in 2012 parliamentary elections by allies of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. He has lived outside of Georgia since 2013, when his term ended.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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