Addressing reporters, Saakashvili also denied claims by Abashidze's lawyer Shalva Shivgulidze that Georgian authorities had promised his client immunity from criminal prosecution.
Saakashvili said his government allowed the Ajar leader to leave Georgia only because he was under threat of physical assassination after he was deposed.
"We have honored the word we gave him under the law. However, everyone must answer for his or her own past deeds so that other people won't behave the same way in the future," Saakashvili said.
Abashidze was deposed in May 2004 amid a tense dispute with Saakashvili. He then fled to Russia.
Prosecutors accuse him of embezzling state property, illegally keeping opponents in custody, abusing his position, and ordering that a bridge linking Ajara to the rest of Georgia be destroyed during last year's crisis.
(Imedi TV/Rustavi 2)
RFE/RL Caucasus Report
SUBSCRIBE For weekly news and in-depth analysis on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia's North Caucasus by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Caucasus Report."
