A court in Tbilisi has sentenced the leader of the Georgian opposition party “Agmashenebeli Strategy”, Giorgi Vashadze, to seven months in prison. He was banned from holding public office for two years. The reason for the prosecution was his failure to appear before the parliamentary investigation commission, reports Radio Liberty’s Ekho Kavkaza project.
Giorgi Vashadze did not attend the announcement of the verdict, he was taken into custody at the party office.
The day before three other opposition leaders – Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze and Zurab Japaridze – were sentenced to prison terms on similar cases.
The opposition calls the sentences political.
Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, said the ruling Georgian Dream party was “in a paranoid state.”
The sentences against opposition leaders have been condemned by some Western politicians.
The official aim of the parliamentary commission is to investigate crimes committed during the previous government. However, its mandate has been extended to post-2012 events. In particular, the commission is looking into the responsibility of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia for setting up a police post in the village of Chorchana in 2019.
According to Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, failure to fulfil the requirements of the Parliamentary Temporary Investigation Commission is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to one year with deprivation of the right to hold office or engage in activities for up to three years.