FILE PHOTO: Georgia's jailed ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili is seen on a screen via a video link from a clinic during a court hearing to consider a request from Saakashvili's legal team to release him or defer his six-year sentence for abuse of power over health concerns, in Tbilisi, Georgia, February 1, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze
TBILISI (Reuters) - A Georgian court on Monday rejected an appeal to release former President Mikheil Saakashvili from prison on health grounds, a decision the ex-leader said was akin to a "death sentence."
Saakashvili, who led the former Soviet republic as a pro-Western reformer from 2004 to 2013, is serving a six-year sentence for abuse of power, a charge he and his supporters say was politically motivated.
