The attorneys for Georgia’s ex-president, Mikheil Saakashvili, have filed an appeal with the Court of Appeals against the Tbilisi City Court’s ruling against his release from jail owing to his poor health or the deterrent of his term.

According to lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze, he does not expect that the court of the second instance will make any different verdict. Instead of a Georgian judge, Khachapuridze believes Maria Zakharova (head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Communication and Press Department) would rule in the case.

“The decision will be made in the Kremlin,” Khachapuridze said.

The attorney went on to say that the case would be appealed in all instances in Georgia and that the family would then decide whether to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (ECHR).

The Tbilisi City Court’s judge, Giorgi Arevadze, dismissed Mikheil Saakashvili’s lawyers’ petition for the ex-president’s jail term postponement or his release on February 6. Mikheil Saakashvili has been in jail for over a year, convicted of abuse of power while in office.