Day: May 27, 2025
On May 27, the Georgian Dream parliament elected Archil Kochlamazashvili as a new member of the Supreme Court of Georgia with 89 votes in favor and none against.
Kochlamazashvili, a career judiciary official, has held a range of positions within Georgia’s court and justice administration system over the past two decades. He served as a court officer at the Tbilisi Court of Appeals from 2006 to 2011 and at the High Council of Justice from 2011 to 2015. He later held consulting positions within the HCoJ, specializing in judicial ethics and evaluating judges’ professional activities. On December 1, 2020, the HCoJ appointed him as a judge in the Civil Cases Chamber of the Tbilisi City Court for a three-year term.
Kochlamazashvili’s election to the Supreme Court comes amid ongoing criticism over the lack of transparency of judicial appointments and concerns about the independence of Georgia’s judiciary.
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Giorgi Bolotashvili, who had been illegally detained by Russian occupation forces, has been released and is now in Tbilisi-controlled territory, the State Security Service of Georgia reported on May 27.
Bolotashvili was detained near the village of Khurvaleti in the Gori Municipality. On May 20, the SSSG reported the illegal detention of three Georgian citizens from the same area, allegedly including Giorgi Bolotashvili. One was released shortly afterward, and following Bolotashvili’s release, one reportedly remains in illegal custody.
The SSSG stated that the release process involved the use of the operational hotline mechanism of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), as well as “all other relevant instruments at the disposal of the central government.”
According to SSSG, “the central government continues to work actively to release all Georgian citizens illegally detained in the occupied territories.”
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The Georgian Dream-led Parliament has extended the mandate of its investigative commission, looking into the alleged crimes by the UNM, pushing its term through July 5, according to a resolution adopted on May 27.
“Based on the hearing of the interim report on the activities performed [as of May 23, 2025], the term of office of the Temporary Investigative Commission of Georgia shall be extended for 1 month from June 5, 2025,” the resolution states.
The temporary investigative commission was created in the GD parliament on February 5 to probe alleged crimes under the UNM government. On April 14, the commission’s mandate was extended to cover not only 2003-2012, but also 2003 to the present day. It is part of the GD’s push to ban what it describes as the “collective UNM” – a term used to label major pro-Western opposition parties that passed the threshold in the 2024 elections. Tea Tsulukiani, the former Justice Minister under GD, widely considered as one of the most influential figures in the GD party, chairs the commission. On May 13, the GD parliament passed the legislative package that further paved the way for banning opposition parties.
All non-participating opposition leaders, with the exception of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, have been subjected to bail. Former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili and Girchi-More Freedom party leader Zurab Japaridze were arrested. None of the arrested political figures have paid bail, as they reject the legitimacy of the Parliament and its investigative commission. Under Georgian law, failure to appear before the commission can result in bail conditions or up to one year in prison.
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- 21/05/2025 – GYLA: Rejection to Appear Before GD Commission Cannot Be Qualified as Criminal Offense
- 15/05/2025 – Salome Zurabishvili: GD Launched New Wave of Repression Against Politicians
- 28/04/2025 – New Member in GD Commission Investigating UNM
- 11/03/2025 – GD Amends Rules to Let Commission Investigating UNM Request Probe at Any Stage