The Georgian police used pepper spray to disperse supporters of imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili who gathered in front of the Tbilisi City Court on Monday ahead of a trial, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
The protesters threw bottles at law enforcement officers in response.
The police officers also detained former Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava for disobeying their orders, according to the correspondent.
Meanwhile, Saakashvili said during trial that he did not admit the charges against him, neither the Georgian justice during a speech in the court room.
"I do not admit to the prosecutor`s office charges, neither the Georgian justice. I am not here to be a part of an already written comedy," Saakashvili said in court.
Saakashvili was detained in Georgia on October 1, later the same day he went on a hunger strike. The former president was convicted in absentia on charges of Georgian banker Sandro Girgvliani murder and the beating of Georgian lawmaker Valery Gelashvili. In the first case, the politician was sentenced to three years in prison, and in the second to six. In addition, Saakashvili is a defendant in the cases of the opposition rally dispersal on November 7, 2007, the Imedi Media Holding pogrom, and the funds embezzlement from the state budget. These cases are still being reviewed in the courts.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that Saakashvili would serve the entire sentence, while the defendant sees himself as a political prisoner. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
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