A court hearing on the case of one of the opposition leaders has begun in Tbilisi

At today's session of the Tbilisi City Court, a preventive measure will be chosen for one of the leaders of the opposition party "Coalition for Change" Zurab Girchi Japaridze. The politician refused to pay bail in the amount of 20 thousand lari, assigned to him for refusing to appear for questioning at the investigative commission of the parliament.

Earlier, former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili refused to pay bail, as a result of which the court changed his preventive measure to arrest. According to Japaridze, the same will happen in his case.

The hall in which today's session is taking place cannot accommodate everyone who wants to attend. Because of this, clashes with the police took place in the court building and in front of it.

The temporary investigative commission was created by the "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 will also cover alleged violations by the opposition up to the present day. The investigative body is headed by Tea Tsulukiani, one of the veterans of the ruling party, formerly the Minister of Justice, then the Minister of Culture and Sports, and currently a member of parliament.

The investigative body 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.

We remind you that 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.

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