Tbilisi City Court has arrested one of the leaders of the opposition Coalition for Changes, Nika Gvaramia, for failing to appear at a meeting of the temporary parliamentary commission investigating alleged crimes of the previous authorities. Prior to this, he was given a bail of 30,000 lari (about $18,300), but this requirement was not met within the established deadline.

The politician said that he would not resist arrest and arrived at Rustavi Prison on his own, where he will await sentencing. Earlier, his associates Nika Melia and Zurab Japaridze were taken into custody on similar charges.

Recall that the maximum penalty for “failure to comply with the legal requirements of the temporary parliamentary investigative commission” (Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia) is imprisonment for up to one year. In total, cases have been initiated against about ten opposition politicians who refused to cooperate with it on principle at the initiative of this body. Among them are Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze (Lelo), Giorgi Vashadze (Strategy Agmashenebeli) and former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili.

The temporary investigative commission was created by Georgian Dream in February of this year. Initially, it was assumed that it would focus only on the period of Mikheil Saakashvili's rule (2003-2012), but in March its powers were expanded: now the investigation includes alleged violations by the opposition up to the present day. The investigative body is headed by Tea Tsulukiani, a veteran of the ruling party, former Minister of Justice, then Minister of Culture and Sports, and now a member of parliament.

The commission must complete its work within six months. After this, the ruling party intends to send the financial report to the Constitutional Court to achieve recognition of the United National Movement as unconstitutional. The Georgian Dream also states that it plans to achieve a ban on other political forces allegedly associated with the UNM.