A court in Georgia convicted a former Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili of embezzlement and abuse of office and sentenced him to five years in prison. The top ally of former President Mikhail Saakashvili served for nearly eight years as interior minister before he became the head of government ahead of a parliamentary election in 2012, AP reported. After Saakashvili’s party suffered a defeat, prosecutors filed charges against many of the ex-president’s allies. Merabishvili was arrested in May 2013 and accused of putting nearly 22,000 party campaign workers on the Labor Ministry payroll. He also was accused of illegally appropriating a seaside residence.