The court hearing in the case of ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili on the embezzlement of more than 8.8 million lari (about $3 million) of state funds for personal needs was postponed to February 21, Report informs referring to Georgian media.

He refused to attend the trial for health reasons.

The judge in the case, Badri Kochlamazashvili, stated before the start of the hearing that the defendant was invited to take part in the trial in person or remotely, to which Saakashvili refused.

“We will postpone the meeting and interrogate the declared witness at the next trial. The next meeting will take place on February 21 at 11:00,” Kochlamazashvili said.

Saakashvili secretly returned to Georgia from Ukraine on September 29, 2021, and was detained in Tbilisi on October 1. By that time, he had been sentenced in absentia to six years in prison in two criminal cases - the beating of deputy Valery Gelashvili and the pardon of those convicted of the murder of bank employee Sandro Girgvliani.

In addition, the Tbilisi City Court is considering three cases against him - about embezzlement of public funds, about the dispersal of a protest rally on November 7, 2007, and about illegal border crossing.