TBILISI: Georgia on Thursday charged eight top opposition figures including jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili with plotting to overthrow the government, sabotage and aiding foreign powers, in an intensifying crackdown on opponents.
Those targeted slammed the ruling Georgian Dream party for escalating an intense crackdown on dissent in the Black Sea nation, in what one branded a “war on democracy.”
Georgia has been mired in political crisis since last year’s disputed parliamentary elections, which the opposition says were rigged in favor of Georgian Dream.
Thursday’s proceedings target Saakashvili — who is serving a 12.5-year sentence for abuse of office, a conviction denounced by rights groups as politically motivated — as well as a string of opposition leaders, Prosecutor General Giorgi Gvarakidze told reporters.
The most serious charges — “assisting a foreign state ... in hostile activities” — carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.
