Day: June 23, 2025
Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of the opposition Lelo party, was sentenced on June 23 to eight months in prison for refusing to appear before the Georgian Dream parliamentary investigative commission tasked with probing alleged crimes by the former UNM government and other officials. He was also barred from holding public office for two years.
Earlier in the day, another opposition leader, Zurab Japaridze of Girchi-More Freedom, who had already been in pretrial detention after refusing to pay court-imposed bail in the same case, was sentenced to seven months in prison and likewise stripped of his right to hold office for two years. Unlike Japaridze, Khazaradze had posted a GEL 50,000 (about USD 18,300) bail as a pretrial restraint, allowing him to remain free until the final verdict.
Khazaradze did not attend today’s court hearing, where Judge Zviad Sharadze read out the prison sentence. He and his party colleague Badri Japaridze, whose sentence is expected to be announced in several hours, are at Lelo’s office, where law enforcement is expected to execute the judge’s ruling.
Several other individuals and opposition politicians await final rulings in similar cases, anticipating the same prison verdicts. Among them are Nika Melia and Nika Gvaramia of the Ahali party, who, like Japaridze, remain in pretrial detention after refusing to post bail. Others include Lelo’s Badri Japaridze and Strategy Aghmashenebeli’s Giorgi Vashadze, who are currently free on bail. Former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili also remains behind bars after rejecting bail.
Mamuka Khazaradze, founder of TBC Bank and the Anaklia Development Consortium, did not hold public office under the UNM government. In 2019, he launched the public movement Lelo, which soon evolved into a political party. That same year, he and his long-time associate Badri Japaridze were convicted of fraud but were not jailed, as the statute of limitations had expired by the time of the ruling.
In the 2024 parliamentary elections, the Lelo-led Strong Georgia coalition passed the mandatory threshold but, like other opposition groups, has been boycotting parliamentary work. The party has recently leaned toward participating in the upcoming local elections, reigniting divisions within the opposition.
Mamuka Khazaradze has thus become the second opposition politician to be convicted and jailed for defying a summons from the Georgian Dream parliamentary investigative commission, which is a criminal offense under Georgian law. Other than imprisonment, the law also allows for a fine, although judges in the first rulings opted for prison sentences.
Commenting to journalists after Zurab Japaridze’s sentencing, Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that anyone defying the parliament would be imprisoned. “They do not recognize [the parliament] — they will go to jail,” he said, making no mention of fines as an alternative penalty.
Controversial Commission
The Georgian Dream parliament’s temporary investigative commission, chaired by GD veteran and former justice and culture minister Tea Tsulukiani, is tasked with probing alleged crimes committed by officials from the United National Movement (UNM). The commission has summoned both alleged victims and former officials, including current opposition leaders, most of whom have refused to appear, considering the one-party parliament illegitimate.
The exception was Giorgi Gakharia, former GD prime minister and current leader of the opposition For Georgia party, who testified but maintained that doing so did not imply recognition of the GD parliament’s legitimacy.
The commission again summoned Gakharia to testify over the Chorchana episode, which the Prosecutor’s Office says is now investigating under the alleged “sabotage.” Gakharia offered to testify online, citing a planned foreign visit. The commission first declined his request, despite having previously heard from some witnesses remotely, and later offered Gakharia July 2 to testify.
Other opposition figures, including Nika Gvaramia, already in detention, and Mamuka Khazaradze, already sentenced to prison, have also been resummoned. Both refuse to appear.
The commission is addressing topics including alleged torture, business racketeering, and the August 2008 war, which it blames on the former UNM government and ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Georgian Dream says the commission’s final report will be submitted to the country’s Constitutional Court to ban the UNM and its “successor parties.” GD says it plans to ban the opposition by the end of the year.
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