Saakashvili was sentenced on Monday to four-and-a-half years behind bars for illegally crossing the border when returning to the country from exile in 2021, his lawyer said.

He is already serving concurrent terms for embezzlement and abuse of power while in office, bringing his total sentence to more than 12 years.

Saakashvili has always denied wrongdoing and called his latest sentence “illegal” and “unjust”. Rights groups say his imprisonment is politically motivated.

Saakashvili opposes the governing Georgian Dream party, which favours closer ties with Russia. As president, he sought to forge closer relations with Western governments.

In a video posted on X on Monday from the hospital where he is being held, Saakashvili said: “No matter what, I will fight to the end.”

The former president was sentenced last week to nine years behind bars for embezzlement, running alongside the jail term he had already been serving. In 2018, he was tried in absentia and sentenced in two separate trials.

Saakashvili was arrested in 2021 after making a surprise return to Georgia ahead of the country’s local elections by smuggling himself into the country on a ferry from Ukraine.

He called for mass anti-government demonstrations, but was quickly arrested by Georgian authorities.

The 57-year-old had led Georgia over two terms between 2004 and 2013. Since leaving the country, he had for the most part lived in Ukraine.

He was granted Ukrainian citizenship in 2015, renouncing his Georgian citizenship when he became governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region.

His citizenship was revoked in 2017 before being restored again by President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019.

“This [sentence] is basically sending a message… to President Zelensky, for them to scare him to show what happens when you don’t surrender your country… I did not surrender Georgia,” Saakashvili said in his video address while wearing a black shirt with the words “I’m Ukrainian” emblazoned on it.

Zelensky, who appointed Saakashvili to oversee reforms in Ukraine, has demanded his transfer to Kyiv.

He has previously accused Russia of “killing” Saakashvili “at the hands of the Georgian authorities”.

The European Union has repeatedly called for Saakashvili’s immediate release from prison, expressing concern over his deteriorating health.

The Council of Europe rights watchdog has branded him a “political prisoner,” while Amnesty International has called his treatment an “apparent political revenge”.

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Transparency International (TI) Georgia, the anti-corruption watchdog, wrote at the time that the change – which allows tax-free transfer of assets from offshore accounts to Georgia – may have been introduced to serve the interests of the country’s richest person and former prime minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

He is the founder and honorary chairman of the country’s ruling party, Georgian Dream.

“Now it is clear, those changes were made for him,” says senior economics analyst at TI Georgia, Beso Namchavadze.

With an estimated wealth of $4.9bn (£3.9bn), Mr Ivanishvili made his money in 1990s Russia, in computing, metals and banking. Most of his wealth is believed to be tucked away in offshore companies.

Georgia was plunged into political crisis and daily street protests last May when the country’s MPs passed the contentious “transparency on foreign influence bill”, often dubbed the “foreign agents law”.

Under this legislation, media and non-governmental organisations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad have to register as “organisations acting in the interest of a foreign power”, submit themselves to stringent audits, or face punitive fines. It was widely seen as a move to prevent US and other Western influence on the country.

Protests then continued when the Georgian Dream-led government won disputed parliamentary elections in October. Protests were spurred again at the start of December when it said it would be putting EU accession talks on hold.

Hundreds of peaceful protesters were arrested and severely beaten up by the police.

In response to this crackdown, the US government announced sanctions against Mr Ivanishvili at the end of last year.

There is also the possibility of sanctions from the UK. Last month James MacClearly, a Liberal Democrat MP, introduced an Early Day Motion in the UK parliament calling on the government to impose sanctions on Mr Ivanishvili.

The motion expressed “deep concern at the suspension of Georgia’s EU accession process and the increasing use of excessive force against peaceful protesters”.

TI Georgia estimates that if the UK imposed sanctions on Mr Ivanishvili his entire business empire would be affected, because he has holding companies registered in two British Overseas Territories – British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands.

“All his big business, which he has in Georgia, in the hospitality sector, in the energy sector, all the parent companies of these Georgian companies, the last beneficiaries are registered in these so-called offshore territories,” says Beso Namchavadze.

He adds that TI Georgia believes that Mr Ivanishvili and other family members are continuing to transfer ownership of companies they previously controlled through offshore entities to newly established firms in Georgia.

In January of this year, paintings and other artwork worth nearly $500m were imported into Georgia, according to data published by the Ministry of Finance.

Many believe the artwork was from Mr Ivanishvili’s valuable collection.

“For everybody who knows him it’s pretty clear that this is something that he values the most out of all the assets, and all the wealth, that he has,” says Tina Khidasheli, Georgia’s ex-defence minister and the head of the non-governmental organisation Civic Idea.

“He is going to bring paintings back and he does not want to pay tax on it.”

The head of Georgia’s parliamentary committee on finance and budget, Paata Kvijinadze, recently defended the tax-free transfer of assets from offshore accounts to Georgia.

“If anyone benefited from this law, I am happy about it,” he said in a post on social media. “This is exactly what the law was meant to be: to bring companies from offshore zones and attract more investments into the country”.

In response to the proposed UK sanctions, Georgia’s ruling party issued a statement defending Mr Ivanishvili, saying that a threat of sanctions was “without any foundation” against the party founder who brought “democratic breakthrough to the country”.

Separately, Mr Ivanishvili’s lawyer announced last month that his client is suing Swiss bank Julius Baer for, among other reasons, misinterpreting “the so-called” American sanctions, which the lawyer described as “political blackmail”.

The US sanctions on Mr Ivanishvili call for his assets to be frozen, and place restrictions on US citizens and companies from doing business personally with him, but they do not affect his companies or family members.

For more than a decade Mr Ivanishvili has been involved in legal battles with another Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, over fraud and mismanagement of his money.

Some believe that the billionaire’s mistrust of the West and increased use of conspiracy theories at home, such as accusing adversaries of being part of the “global war party”, or “deep state”, originate in his long-standing financial grievances.

Ever since he became convinced that Credit Suisse was part of a grand conspiracy against him, says Tina Khdasheli. “Bidzina Ivanishvili held Georgia hostage to his personal financial issues.”

Experts say that even though Mr Ivanishvili’s current official position is the honorary chairman of the ruling party, there is a clear understanding that he remains the number one person in Georgian politics. Sanctions against him are therefore seen as sanctions against the entire government.

Nika Gilauri was prime minister of Georgia from 2009 to 2012. He now leads a private company called Reformatics, which advises governments around the world on economic reform.

Mr Gilauri says that Georgia’s continuing political instability and international isolation is negatively impacting the economy. “We are seeing a very negative effect on FDI, foreign direct investment, if you take nine months of 2024 compared to nine months of 2023, we have a 40% drop. So going forward this is going to continue to get worse.”

But the Georgian government paints a different picture.

Last month Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze signed a $6bn inward investment agreement with UAE property group Emaar.

Levan Davitashvili, the Minister of Economy described it as the “largest foreign investment deal” in decades, which was expected to contribute 1.5% growth to the economy.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has even suggested that 10% growth was now “absolutely realistic” for the Georgian economy.

But recently published research by Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG), a Georgian research firm, said that the prospect for the next six months was “extremely negative”.

It highlighted the impact of the continuing political turmoil, and said that the suspension of EU membership talks “was negatively viewed by all surveyed economists”.

Mr Gilauri of Reformatics says their own analysis shows that Georgia’s economic growth this year will be zero.

“Going forward, we will have a budgetary problem, a currency exchange problem. We will have an inflation problem. We will have a jobs problem, a job creation problem, and we will have economic decline problem.

“Having new elections is the only way forward for the country as well as for Bidzina Ivanishvili personally.”

The founder of two news websites in Georgia, her health is declining and relatives fear for her life. She was taken to hospital this week for treatment.

Amaglobeli, 49, has been in per-trial detention since she slapped a police chief during nightly protests that have galvanised Georgians since the end of November.

They accuse their government of rigging elections and turning their back on their country’s future in the European Union.

Georgia’s increasingly authoritarian government says she committed a serious criminal offence, but her pre-trial detention has turned her into a symbol of resistance.

“Today it is me, tomorrow it could be anyone who dares to dream of a just, democratic European Georgia, untouched by Russian influence, unshaken by oppression,” Amaglobeli wrote in a letter from Rustavi prison, not far from the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner says her pre-trial detention for assaulting a police officer is unjustified.

Fourteen foreign embassies in Georgia have demanded Amaglobeli’s immediate release and a review of her case, describing her detention as another worrying example of intimidation of journalists in Georgia.

Mzia Amaglobeli was detained twice on 11 January in highly contentious circumstances, during a protest against the Georgian Dream government in the Black Sea port of Batumi.

A video promoted repeatedly on state media shows her lightly slapping the Batumi police chief on the cheek.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has condemned her actions.

“Everyone must understand that the police officer is inviolable, the police officer represents the state and the strength of the state,” Kobakhidze told a press briefing.

If found guilty of assault she faces between four and seven years in jail.

Amaglobeli is one of many hundreds of protesters to have been arrested across Georgia. Opposition leaders are among those who have been detained and in some cases injured by gangs of pro-government thugs.

Photos of the journalist alongside calls for her release adorn the main protest sites in Tbilisi as well as her home city of Batumi.

Her family, friends and colleagues describe her as a peaceful, calm and hard-working person who founded Batumi news website Batumelebi with her business partner Eter Turadze in 2001.

They went on to launch national news website, Netgazeti, and today both sites are regarded as unbiased and trustworthy news sources in Georgia’s deeply polarised media.

Batumelebi’s third-floor offices look on to the snow-capped Ajara mountains. The Georgian flag hangs from the balcony alongside the flags of the EU and Ukraine.

“Mzia is well known in journalistic circles, but she was not a public person,” says civil rights activist Malkaz Chkadua, who has taken part in the nightly protests in Batumi.

“She was only 25 years old, a young brave journalist when she started the newspaper Batumelebi which has been fighting for freedom of expression, and defending human rights through different government regimes in this country.”

Her niece Iveta, who grew up with Mzia, describes her as a workaholic.

On the night she was arrested, she was still at her office and most of her staff had gone home for the night.

Colleague and investigative journalist Irma Dimidtradze says her boss had not been taking part in the daily anti-government protests.

But when Amaglobeli learned that a friend was among several protesters detained for putting up posters for an upcoming general strike, she rushed to the police station.

“People were chanting ‘sticking up posters is not a crime’, and to demonstrate that it is not a crime, Mzia did the same thing,” says Dimitradze.

Weeks earlier, as the protests took hold, the Georgian Dream government banned face masks at protests and increased fines for making “inscriptions or drawings” on building facades.

Amaglobeli was captured on video attaching a poster to the wall of a police station before she was led away by several officers.

“We learned later in the police report that she disobeyed a lawful order of the police that she was swearing and insulting them,” said Irma Dimitradze, adding that all of it was untrue.

She was charged with an administrative offence and released. Her niece, Iveta, was with other relatives waiting for her: “When Mzia came out, I even joked with her saying: ‘Look, if you wanted to rest, to have a day off, you did not need to do this.'”

But soon the situation escalated, and more arrests followed.

Amoglobeli was seen confronting Batumi police chief Irakli Dgeubadze. As he walked away, she grabbed him by his sleeve and slapped him.

Footage taken minutes afterwards shows her being led away by police.

Off camera, she is taunted with highly threatening and abusive language which witnesses have said is the voice of the chief of police.

Amaglobeli’s lawyers say he later spat in her face and refused to give her water or access to toilets. She was also denied access to her lawyers for several hours.

Batumi prosecutors argued that her slap was motivated by “revenge”. A judge rejected bail by her legal team and remanded her in pre-trial custody.

Gakharia is said to have suffered a broken nose in the incident in Batumi on the Black Sea coast. His party said it was “politically motivated” and aimed at intimidating the opposition.

The southern Caucasus state has seen political turmoil and repeated attacks on opposition figures and protesters in the months since Georgia’s contested elections in late October.

Protests have taken place every night since Georgian Dream’s leaders announced a month later they were freezing the issue of opening talks on joining the European Union.

Hundreds of businesses took part in a three-hour strike on Wednesday on the 49th day of protests in a row.

Video of the incident late on Tuesday night in the Sheraton hotel lobby in Batumi was unclear, although Gakharia could be seen being forced to the floor by a group of men. Images showed him later with blood on his shirt.

Giorgia Gakharia posted on social media on Wednesday morning that “healthwise I’m doing fine”, but the doctor who treated him said he had fractured a bone in his nose and had concussion.

European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said the “reported involvement of Georgian Dream politicians in the brutal attack” was shocking, and there was no place for violence or impunity in any democracy.

However, Georgian Dream figures have accused Gakharia of initiating the clash himself. MP Levan Machavariani told reporters everything was clear from the footage, while Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said the opposition’s agenda was based on lies and deceit.

An MP with Georgian Dream and other members of the party have been linked to the assault, which took place shortly after Zviad Koridze, a journalist and regional head of anti-corruption organisation Transparency International, also came under attack.

Koridze had been visiting Batumi to cover the trial of a leading media figure, Mzia Amaghlobeli, the founder of independent online outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi.

She was ordered into pre-trial detention in the Black Sea coastal city on Tuesday two days after her arrest during a heated argument with a policeman in which she is accused of slapping the officer. A cameraman was also arrested.

The UK’s ambassador to Georgia, Gareth Ward, said developments in the political crisis in recent days had been “extremely worrying”. “Renewed violence against opposition politicians and arbitrary detention of journalists and protesters is unacceptable,” he said.

Gakharia is not the first opposition leader to face violence in recent weeks. Nika Gvaramia, who heads Coalition for Change, was knocked to the ground unconscious when he was detained in the capital, Tbilisi, last month.

Dozens of Georgian journalists and protesters have also been attacked and injured by pro-government thugs during the nightly protests.

Georgian Dream has been accused by the EU and US of democratic backsliding, and opposition groups accuse the party and its billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili of pursuing Russia’s interests, while the vast majority of Georgians want to join the EU.

Giorgi Gakharia was formerly a leading member of Georgian Dream until 2021 serving as interior minister and then as prime minister, before setting up his own For Georgia opposition party.

In a statement, Georgia’s ombudsman Levan Ioseliani condemned the attacks on both Gakharia and Zviad Koridze. He called for an immediate response “so that attacks on politicians and journalists are not incited”.

Gakharia’s party was one of four opposition groups that secured seats in the October elections, but they all refused to take up their seats, accusing the ruling party of rigging the vote.

The European Parliament has called for a re-run of the election, describing it as neither free nor fair, and the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has accused the government of using repression against the opposition.

Outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili said on Sunday in a defiant speech to hundreds of supporters outside the presidential palace that she was leaving the residence but remained the legitimate officeholder.

“This parody, which is currently being played out in parliament, is a genuine parody that the country has not deserved,” Zourabichvili said.

She added that Kavelashvili was not duly picked, as the legislators who chose him were elected in an October parliamentary election that she says was marked by fraud.

The pro-European Union leader and protesters are demanding a new vote to replace the election in question.

The Georgian Dream governing party and the country’s election commission say the October election was free and fair.

Kavelashvili a 53-year-old former national footballer, took his oath on the Bible and the Georgian constitution, swearing to serve the country’s interests amid a political crisis.

According to local media reports, there were no significant protests outside the parliamentary buildings while Kavelashvili was being sworn in.

The governing party, which controls the parliament, also says Kavelashvili is the duly elected president.

The Georgian Dream party had threatened Zourabichvili with prison if she refused to leave the presidential residence in the centre of Tbilisi.

The government led by Georgian Dream froze EU application talks in a move that prompted great protests.

Georgian Dream’s opponents accuse it of steering Tbilisi towards Moscow rather than towards the Caucasus country’s longstanding goal of joining the EU.

A century later, Georgia’s pro-Western president is refusing to leave office, arguing she is the last legitimate institution in her country.

On Sunday, her six-year term as president is due to end. According to a new system for selecting the head of state, on that day she will be replaced by former Manchester City footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, chosen with the support of the governing Georgian Dream party.

Zourabichvili, 72, has denounced his election under an electoral college system in which he was the only candidate as a travesty.

When she became president in 2018 she was endorsed by Georgian Dream, but she has since condemned their contested election victory in late October as a “Russian special operation” and backed nightly pro-EU protests outside parliament.

The government says if she refuses to leave office she will be committing a crime.If she is forced out, she says the ruling party’s takeover of the state will be complete and Georgia will have surrendered its sovereignty to a party that she accuses of serving Moscow.

Salome Zourabichvili was born in France in 1952 into a prominent family of Georgian émigrés. Her grandfather, a minister in the government of briefly independent Georgia, fled to France in 1921.

Georgia, then under Soviet rule, loomed large in her childhood. It was a “mythical place, which only existed in books,” she said in a 2004 interview.

Though raised in a culturally Georgian environment, speaking the language at home and attending Georgian Orthodox church services, she easily integrated into French culture. She attended France’s elite schools, including Sciences Po, traditionally a feeder for the country’s top public servants.

She excelled, serving as a French diplomat for nearly 30 years. But throughout, her true passion remained in extricating her parents’ mysterious country of origin from Russia’s influence and bringing it closer to the West.

“She sees it as her life’s mission to bring Georgia into Europe. Everything else for her has always been secondary,” said Alexandre Crevaux-Asatiani, a former Zourabichvili aide.

In 2003, she was appointed French ambassador to Georgia. A year later, she was granted Georgian citizenship and made foreign minister under President Mikheil Saakashvili. Dismissed in 2005, she took an increasingly prominent role in her adopted country’s politics, founding a new party.

Saakashvili’s rule ended in 2012 and Georgian Dream have been in power ever since. The party’s founder, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, is widely seen by Georgians as the most powerful man in their country. By a quirk of fate, he is also French, having taken citizenship in 2010.

Backed for the presidency by Ivanishvili’s party, Zourabichvili was initially unpopular among the country’s pro-Western youth. A popular TV show mocked her halting Georgian, spoken with a strong French accent.

She was seen as aligned with the ruling party, unpopular with many young people, and she blamed a short war with Russia in 2008 on Georgia allowing itself to be provoked.

But as her presidential term progressed, Georgian Dream took an increasingly authoritarian and anti-Western turn, cracking down on civil society and NGOs. It refused to join Western sanctions on Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and called the West the “global war party”, making a mockery of its stated aim of joining the EU and Nato.

Zourabichvili openly defied the government, believing she had the support of the majority of Georgia’s population.

She pledged to veto a bill on “foreign influence” that mirrored Russian legislation passed under President Vladimir Putin, but the government passed it anyway, defying weeks of protests.

“The choice for Georgia is between independence or slavery, Europe or Russia,” she said in April.

She has often addressed the protesters who have turned out every night for a month outside parliament, casting them as the conscience of the nation against a Russia-friendly government.

Last month she asked riot police, accused by the opposition of brutalising protesters: “Are you serving Russia or Georgia?”

Many protesters, initially distrustful of the president for coming to power with Georgian Dream’s backing, came to respect her outspoken opposition.

“No-one expected her to be this good. She reflects our values,” said Irakli, a 34-year-old who has been regularly demonstrating. “She motivates us to fight.”

Ahead of October’s contested elections, the government tried to impeach her for meeting EU leaders without government authorisation. Ultimately the effort failed but it was an indication of the showdown to come.

Zourabichvili called the elections, which returned Georgian Dream to power, “totally falsified”. She backed opposition parties’ calls for a re-run, drawing the ire of senior party leaders.

She now faces perhaps her biggest challenge so far, as Georgian Dream prepares to install her replacement, Mikheil Kavelashvili, as president.

But Zourabichvili has insisted she will not go, setting up a likely constitutional crisis. Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has threatened her with arrest.

“Let’s see where she ends up, behind bars or outside,” he told reporters this week.

The government is likely to force her to leave one way or another, said Petre Tsiskarishvili of the opposition United National Movement.

Conscious of not wanting to make her a political martyr and elevate her profile further, it may avoid a high-profile arrest, he added, perhaps merely locking her out of her official residence at the Orbeliani Palace.

Doubts towards her will persist. Some in the opposition blame her for providing a pro-European face to Georgian Dream’s authoritarian turn for far too long, refraining from criticising Ivanishvili until only a few months ago.

But in a country where pro-European forces have often been fractured, Zourabichvili’s supporters say she is likely to emerge from her term in office as a key opponent to the government.

“Even if she is arrested, she will still be considered the legitimate president of Georgia. There is no question about it,” said Mr Crevaux-Asatiani, the president’s former aide.

The inauguration of a new president – former Manchester City footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, who is seen as an ally of the ruling Georgian Dream party – is due on Sunday.

But the current head of state, Salome Zourabichvili, is refusing to step down, describing his election as illegitimate.

Georgian Dream, which has been in power for 12 years, won parliamentary elections in October, but the victory was mired by allegations of fraud and there have since been protests.

The four main opposition groups have rejected Kavelashvili and boycotted parliament.

It is as yet unclear how the stand-off will be resolved.

Protesters, waving Georgian and EU flags, formed a human chain that spanned kilometres on Saturday.

“I am out in the street together with my whole family trying somehow to tear out this small country out of the claws of the Russian empire,” one protester told the Associated Press.

It refused to join Western sanctions on Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and called the West the “global war party”, making a mockery of its stated aim of joining the EU and Nato.

An overwhelming majority of Georgians back the country’s path to the EU and it is part of the constitution.

But in November, the country’s ruling party said the government would not seek EU accession talks until 2028.

The announcement sparked days of protests, and riot police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters, who fought back by throwing fireworks and stones.

The US this week imposed sanctions on Georgia’s former prime minister and billionaire founder of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Georgia is a parliamentary democracy with the president the head of state, and the prime minister the head of parliament.

The current president, Zourabichvili, has denounced Kavelashvili’s election – which was under an electoral college system in which he was the only candidate – as a travesty.

When Zourabichvili became president in 2018 she was endorsed by Georgian Dream, but she has since condemned their contested election victory in late October as a “Russian special operation” and backed nightly pro-EU protests outside parliament.

Zourabichvili has vowed not to step down on Sunday.The government says if she refuses to leave office she will be committing a crime.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ivanishvili and his party had “derailed Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future”, leaving it vulnerable to Russia.

Ivanishvilli is not an elected official but he has been described as the “honorary chairman” of Georgian Dream, which has spent 12 years in power.

The party claimed victory in recent elections amid allegations of fraud and swiftly announced the suspension of EU accession talks, sparking widespread protests.

Opposition MPs have been boycotting the new parliament, alleging fraud.

The inauguration of a new president – former Manchester City footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili of the People’s Power party, who is seen as a Georgian Dream ally – is scheduled for two days’ time.

But outgoing president Salome Zurabishvili, who is strongly pro-European, has said she will not step down until new elections are held.

“We strongly condemn Georgian Dream’s actions under Ivanishvili’s leadership, including its ongoing and violent repression of Georgian citizens, protestors, members of the media, human rights activists, and opposition figures,” a statement from Blinken said.

Blinken accused Georgian Dream of “ongoing and violent repression” of Georgian citizens, protestors, journalists, rights activists and opposition figures”, and said the party’s actions had “curbed the exercise of fundamental freedoms”.

“The result has left Georgia vulnerable to Russia, which continues to occupy more than 20% of Georgia’s territory,” he said.

US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller described Ivanishvili as the “honorary chairman” of Georgian Dream.

In November Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said his government would not seek EU accession talks until 2028, triggering ongoing protests.

Riot police have used tear gas and water cannon against protesters, who have fought back by throwing fireworks and stones.

The UK has sanctioned five other senior Georgian officials, including the interior minister, for their roles in suppressing pro-European protests.

Last month, the European Parliament backed a resolution describing the election as the latest stage in Georgia’s “worsening democratic crisis”.

It expressed particular concern about reports of voter intimidation, vote-buying and manipulation, and harassment of observers.

The court’s decision does not dismiss the indictment against Trump and his co-defendants, meaning a new prosecutor will be assigned to the case against them.Trump is unlikely to face a trial until after his time in the White House, but some of his co-defendants could face trials sooner.Several, including Trump allies Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, had already pleaded guilty in the case.

The individuals will face travel bans and asset freezes for “violating human rights”, the Foreign Office said, adding that the sanctions were imposed in coordination with the US.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “The shocking violence inflicted upon protestors, opposition leaders and journalists is an egregious attack on democracy.”

The country has seen months of violent clashes between protesters and police since parliamentary elections held in October, most recently over the government’s decision to pause EU accession talks.

The UK has already paused the annual Wardrop Dialogue strategic dialogue and restricted defence cooperation with Georgia.

The announcement comes days after former Manchester City footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili was appointed the country’s president.Kavelashvili is viewed as an ally of the anti-Western ruling party, in contrast to the strongly pro-European incumbent Salome Zourabichvili.

Zourabichvili has pledged not to leave office when her term ends on 29 December, saying her successor was chosen illegitimately.

Protests against Georgian Dream began immediately after parliamentary elections in October elections, but they intensified at the end of November when the government announced it was putting EU accession negotiations on hold until 2028.

Four out of every five voters are said to back joining the EU, a goal inscribed in the constitution.The main avenue outside parliament has been regularly filled with protesters draped in EU flags, demanding new elections.

Demonstrators using fireworks have been met with a harsh response from police, who have used batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons to disperse protesters.

Both the EU and US have condemned the government for democratic backsliding. More than 460 people have been detained across Georgia over the past two weeks, according to Transparency International.

More than 300 have been ill-treated or tortured, the organisation says, including dozens of members of the media. Last weekend, thugs were filmed attacking a TV reporter and cameraman.

Protesters have called on the international community to impose sanctions on top government officials.

Pro-government groups have also waged a campaign of harassment towards civil society activists, beating them outside homes, and carrying out arbitrary arrests.