KIEV, Ukraine — The general prosecutor of Georgia filed criminal charges on Monday against former President Mikheil Saakashvili, accusing him of abuse of power, largely for his handling of political protests that turned violent in November 2007.

Mr. Saakashvili, who carried out a series of sweeping political changes from 2004 to 2012, left office in November after serving the maximum of two terms. His popularity had fallen and his party’s candidate lost.

The charges against Mr. Saakashvili are the latest — and most significant — in a series of seemingly politically motivated prosecutions against former officials in his administration. One of Mr. Saakashvili’s closest allies, a former prime minister, was convicted of corruption in February, and a former mayor of Tbilisi, the capital, who is now a political opposition leader, was arrested and jailed without bail this month.

Expecting that he would become a target of his political rivals, Mr. Saakashvili left Georgia after his term ended and has been living and working in the United States and Europe.