Ex-Georgia president Saakashvili jailed for three years in absence

A court in Georgia has sentenced the country's former president, Mikheil Saakashvili, in his absence to three years in prison for abusing his power in the pardoning of four policemen convicted of murdering a banker.

Saakashvili, who was president from 2004-13, left Georgia when his presidency ended and eventually went to Ukraine, where he had been appointed governor of the Odessa region.