U.S. Concerned over Georgia ex-Leader's Summons for Questioning

The United States on Sunday expressed concerns over Georgia's call for ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili to be questioned in a raft of criminal cases, suggesting the move smacked of political revenge.

"No one is above the law, but launching multiple simultaneous investigations involving a former president raises legitimate concerns about political retribution, particularly when legal and judicial institutions are still fragile," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement.

Harf said the United States urged Georgia "to focus the nation's energies on the future, a strong economy, continued reform of the justice sector, and rapid progress on Euro-Atlantic integration."

Saakashvili has been told to appear on Thursday in connection with 10 cases, including a possible probe into the 2005 death of former prime minister and his close ally Zurab Zhvania, a statement from the prosecutor's office has said.

Some of the other cases relate to a police raid on an independent broadcaster, the alleged misappropriation of funds by the state security service and the illegal seizure of assets.

Staunch U.S.-ally Saakashvili, a flamboyant reformer, ruled Georgia for around a decade until he left office at the end of his second and final term in power in November when an ally of his arch-foe billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili was elected to replace him.

Saakashvili allies called the move the latest step in a political witch hunt against the former leader, and said authorities in Tbilisi were trying to stop his high-profile support for new pro-Western authorities in Ukraine in its struggle against Russia.

The ex-president, who is not in Georgia at the moment, has taken up a post lecturing at Boston's Tufts University since leaving power. He gave a speech in Brussels on Friday.