The leader of Strategy Agmashenebeli, Giorgi Vashadze, whose case for failing to appear before the parliamentary investigative commission will be considered by the court today, said that he will not attend the hearing. He will await the verdict at the party office, where they will come to arrest him. In all likelihood, the oppositionist will be sentenced to several months in prison, as well as three other politicians who have already received sentences under the same article. The maximum penalty for “failure to comply with the legal requirements of the temporary investigative commission of parliament” (Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia) is imprisonment for up to one year.

Let us recall that yesterday the Tbilisi City Court sentenced three opposition leaders – Zurab Girchi Japaridze (Coalition for Change, Girchi – More Freedom party), Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze (Strong Georgia coalition, Lelo party). The first was given 7 months in prison, the other two – 8 months each. In addition, other “unwanted” politicians are expected to be sentenced in the coming days for refusing to testify to the commission. It is noteworthy that almost none of the opposition representatives 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. In particular, the leaders of the Coalition for Change Nika Gvaramia and Nika Melia, as well as former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, are awaiting the court’s verdict in the preliminary report.

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 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 currently a member of parliament. 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 ban other political forces allegedly associated with the UNM.