Leader of the Movement of New Forces party, former head of Odesa Regional Administration and former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is suspected of committing a crime falling within the scope of three Ukrainian Criminal Code Articles, Larysa Sarhan, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian prosecutor general, said on Wednesday.

"Saakashvili has been declared wanted on suspicion of committing a crime under Ukrainian Criminal Code Article 15 Part 1, Article 28 Part 2, and Article 256 Part 2," Sarhan said on Twitter on Wednesday.

The search for Saakashvili has been assigned to units of the National Police Service and the Security Service.

The articles in question deal with a conspiracy to commit a crime (Article 15, Part 1), the commission of a crime by a group of people acting in collusion or by a criminal organization (Article 28, Part 2), and complicity with members of criminal organizations and concealment of their criminal activities (Article 256, Part 2). If found guilty, Saakashvili may face from five to ten years in prison.

Saakashvili's lawyers have said that declaring their client wanted was unlawful, as he was not lawfully indicted and not lawfully detained.