A Georgian court on Thursday sentenced imprisoned ex-prime minister Vano Merabishvili to four and a half years in jail for abuse of power in a verdict his lawyer said was politically motivated.
The Tbilisi court found Merabishvili guilty of "abuse of office with the use of violence" during a May 2009 crackdown by riot police on anti-government protesters who attempted to disrupt an Independence Day military parade.
"The verdict has come as part of the government's crackdown on the opposition," Merabishvili's lawyer, Otar Kakhidze, said.
Merabishvili served as prime minister for several months in 2012 under pro-Western president Mikheil Saakashvili. He was arrested in May 2013 and last week sentenced to five and a half years in prison for embezzlement.
Dozens of Saakashvili allies have been prosecuted on corruption and abuse of office charges since his party's defeat in 2012 parliamentary polls to the rival Georgian Dream coalition.
