Another Georgian oppositionist ends up behind bars

The Tbilisi City Court sentenced former Georgian MP Givi Targamadze to 7 months in prison for his principled refusal to cooperate with the investigative commission. The politician was not present at the court hearing, but after the verdict was announced, he went to the nearest police station, where he was taken into custody.

Givi Targamadze was one of the leaders of the United National Movement, the party whose activities the parliamentary commission intends to investigate first. The Kremlin considers him the inspirer of the "color revolutions", and in 2013 he was even put on the wanted list.

In 2016, an assassination attempt was made on Targamadze in the center of Tbilisi, but he managed to survive the car bombing. The case was raised before the 2024 parliamentary elections, when the Georgian prosecutor's office announced the involvement of the founder of the National Movement, the third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, in the assassination attempt. However, this version was not developed further.

The maximum penalty for "failure to comply with the legal demands of the temporary investigative commission of parliament" (Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia) is imprisonment for up to one year. Cases under this article have been opened against about ten opposition representatives. Zurab Girchi Japaridze ("Coalition for Change", "Girchi - More Freedom" party), Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze ("Strong Georgia" coalition, "Lelo" party), Giorgi Vashadze ("Strategy Agmashenebeli") have already received sentences from 7 to 8 months. Sentences are expected in the coming days for other "unwanted" politicians. It is noteworthy that almost none of the opposition members agreed to cooperate with the investigative body. Thus, almost all the main opponents of the ruling party will remain without leaders at least until the end of the year.

The temporary investigative commission was created by the "Georgian Dream" in February of this year. Initially, it was supposed to focus only on the period of Mikheil Saakashvili's rule (2003-2012), but in March its powers were expanded: now, the investigation will also cover alleged violations by the opposition up to the present day.

The commission must complete its work within six months. After that, the ruling party intends to send the financial report to the Constitutional Court to have the United National Movement declared unconstitutional. The Georgian Dream also states that it plans to seek a ban on other political forces allegedly linked to the UNM.

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