June 26, 2025 - The South Caucasus News - SouthCaucasusNews.com

Opinion on arrests of oppositionists in Georgia

“The detention of opposition leaders in Georgia amounts to full-scale dictatorship,” said Sandro Baramidze, Programme Manager for Human Rights and the Rule of Law at Transparency International Georgia. Baramidze added that the government is attacking the very foundations of democracy — political parties, civil society, and media critical of those in power.

According to Baramidze, the regime is acting against Georgia’s national interests and doing everything possible to isolate the country from the democratic world.

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On 24 June, the court found Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the Strategy Aghmashenebeli party, guilty of failing to appear before a parliamentary investigative commission tasked with reviewing the actions of the Saakashvili government between 2003 and 2012. Vashadze was sentenced to seven months in prison and banned from holding public office for two years.

On 23 June 2025, a court controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party sentenced three more opposition leaders to prison: Mamuka Khazaradze (Lelo), Badri Japaridze (Strong Georgia), and Zurab Japaridze (Coalition for Change).

Nika Melia, Zurab Japaridze, and Nika Gvaramia (Coalition for Change), along with former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili, are already serving prison terms for failing to appear before the same parliamentary commission..

Sandro Baramidze:

“The de facto government is waging an all-out assault on the three main pillars of democracy: political parties, civil society, and independent media. This attack is being carried out through anti-democratic laws passed in blatant violation of basic principles of the rule of law.

These laws are then used to justify undemocratic actions by both the executive and judicial branches. This is already evident in the treatment of opposition political parties, many of whose leaders are now behind bars, with others either already sentenced or awaiting trial. It’s clear that the Murusidze–Chinchaladze court (whose judges are on Western sanctions lists for corruption – JAMNews) will issue the same verdicts it has already delivered to other opposition leaders. This is an unprecedentedly repressive regime — one the country hasn’t seen since the 1920s and 1930s. It needs opposition leaders in prison to intimidate the public and silence dissent.”

“The crackdown on non-profit organisations is already under way. As is well known, the head of the so-called Anti-Corruption Bureau — which is in fact a bureau for protecting corruption — has filed a court motion against seven NGOs, including Transparency International, and the court granted his request for access to their information. We have appealed the first-instance court’s decision and are now waiting for the appellate ruling. Of course, we don’t expect anything good from the Murusidze–Chinchaladze court, but we’re not easy to defeat — even legally.”

“Georgian Dream is building a full-scale dictatorship. Clearly, the courts want to avoid public scrutiny, as they don’t want people to see the farce of justice being carried out by judges handpicked by Murusidze and Chinchaladze. That’s why court hearings are being held behind closed doors — so they won’t remain in the public’s memory or in the history books. As for scapegoating, [which Georgian Dream often resorts to], the Bolsheviks did exactly the same — constantly blaming others for their dictatorship.”