The U.S. Department of State said it is "concerned" by the filing of criminal charges against Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.
The statement posted on the State Department's website on July 29 reads "Commitment to the rule of law means both that everyone must comply with the law in a democratic society and that the legal system should not be used as a tool of political retribution."
Georgian prosecutors said on July 28 that they had filed criminal charges against Saakashvili.
The abuse-of-office charges stem from the breaking-up of antigovernment protests in Tbilisi in November 2007, as well as a raid on and "seizure" of the Imedi television station.
Saakashvili left Georgia late last year after his second presidential term expired.
