The Prosecution Service of Georgia has issued an indictment against convict Mikheil Saakashvili for illegally crossing the state border of Georgia under Article 3441 §1 of the Criminal Code of Georgia and arraignment procedures are being conducted at the moment.

“Moreover, based on the new pieces of evidence obtained within the scope of investigation of the Mikheil Saakashvili Case, the Prosecution Service aggravated the E.Ts.’s charges for concealing a serious offense and aiding in illegal crossing of the state border, while G.Ts., arrested by law enforcement officers on October 19, has been charged with concealment of a serious offense.

We would like to remind the public that within the scope of investigation of the Mikheil Saakashvili Case, two more persons - Sh.Ts. and Z.Ts. have been indicted for concealing a serious offense.

The ongoing investigation conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs has revealed that on September 28, at around 23:00, a vessel Vilnius, having departed from the Port of Chornomorsk, Ukraine, entered Poti Port. On September 29, at 01:04, a SCANIA semi-trailer truck loaded with milk products owned by IKA TRANS LLC and in possession of E.Ts. was unloaded from the said vessel. At first, the vehicle stopped on the bridge, after which E.Ts. parked it at a parking lot before clearing the customs. At 01:44, he drove towards the exit. After passing several dozen meters, E.Ts. stopped the truck on Poti Port premises at 01:47:27, and went to the back door of the trailer. Mikheil Saakashvili got out of the trailer at 01:49:37 and got into the cabin of the truck from the right side. By this act, Mikheil Saakashvili illegally crossed the state border of Georgia, by bypassing the customs control with E.Ts.’s aid.

The fact that Mikheil Saakashvili was in the aforementioned trailer loaded with milk products has been confirmed by the video recordings from his own cellphone and the forensic video examination.

Afterwards, at 01:50:52, E.Ts. proceeded toward the exit slowly and with hazard lights on, but stopped once again at 01:53:06, got out and went to the back door of the trailer, checking whether the doors were duly closed, then returned to the wheel and went on.

At 02:08:30, the semi-trailer arrived at the CCZ (Customs Clearance Zone), where Sh.Ts. and Z.Ts. had been waiting for them with their Mercedes vehicle. During the period between 02:15 and 02:20, Mikheil Saakashvili moved into the Mercedes, while E.Ts. parked the semi-trailer on the premises of the CCZ. At 03:13:35, E.Ts. left the CCZ premises on foot, got into the Mercedes, where Mikheil Saakashvili, Sh.Ts. and Z.Ts. were waiting and they drove toward Abasha. On the same day, at 04:03, they arrived to E.Ts.’s residence in Tkviri Village, Abasha District.

On September 29, during the morning hours, E.Ts. contacted his friend G.Ts. and asked them to assist him to have his vehicle undergo the veterinary control at the customs clearance zone in Poti. After being cleared at the customs, G.Ts. drove through Poti-Khobi-Senaki on September 29, during the period between 16:43 and 17:50, and stopped. Meanwhile, E.Ts. and Mikheil Saakashvili headed to Batumi from Tkviri Village, Abasha District, passing through Lanchkhuti-Poti-Ozurgeti-Kobuleti by a white Ford Transit van during the period between 18:34 and 20:51. Later, they went back from Batumi toward Abasha by the same vehicle during the period between 20:35 and 22:48.

On September 29, during the period between 22:48 and 23:04, Mikheil Saakashvili and E.Ts. moved into the SCANIA semi-trailer truck parked in Tkviri village, where G.Ts. was waiting for them and they departed for Tbilisi together. The aforementioned individuals drove toward Tbilisi by passing through Terjola-Aragveta-Zestaponi-Surami-Khashuri-Gori-Mtskheta and arrived to E.Ts.’s residential apartment on Ertso Street in Tbilisi at around 04:25-04:30. Mikheil Saakashvili and E.Ts. got out of the vehicle at E.Ts.’s flat and settled in there, while G.Ts. kept on driving and approximately, during the period between 05:24 and 05:28, arrived to the Tbilisi CCZ by taking Kakheti Highway. There, he unloaded the goods from the trailer and at 14:39, parked the truck at the TIR Park on O. Khizanishvili Street in Tbilisi. Law enforcement officers arrested Mikheil Saakashvili in E.Ts.’s apartment, on October 1.

Investigative and procedural actions have been carried out in connection to the criminal case. The exact rout of Mikheil Saakashvili’s entrance and movement in Georgia has been ascertained, hundreds of CCTV footages of 112 (Public Safety Command Center), as well as the recordings of those of private companies have been studied. 69 individuals with a connection to the case have been interviewed, information about the cell towers serving the mobile phones of the persons involved in the case, their locations, coverage areas and radiuses have been requested and studied. Requests for mutual legal assistance have been sent to the competent authorities of Ukraine by the International Relations Unit, Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia. Searches of the residences of the defendants have been conducted and evidence of significance to the case have been seized. 4 forensic IT examination have been ordered for the seized mobile phones and the video recordings retrieved from the same mobile phones. Forensic auto-technical examination and forensic trace evidence analysis have been ordered for the seized SCANIA semi-trailer in possession of defendant E.Ts.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs carries on investigation into the illegal border crossing committed by Mikheil Saakashvili. Every necessary procedural and investigative action is being actively carried out.

We would like to remind the public that Mikheil Saakashvili was found guilty by judgments rendered by courts of all three instances in the case of the battery of Valeri Gelashvili and in the Sandro Girgvliani Case, and he was sentenced to 6 years in prison. Furthermore, Mikheil Saakashvili has been charged with raid on TV Imedi, the violent dispersal of November 7 rally, misappropriation of Patakatsishvilis’ property and embezzlement of GEL 9,024,367 of Special State Protection Service for his personal purposes. The said cases are being examined in Tbilisi City Court”, - reads the statement of the Prosecutor’s Office.