The Georgian authorities have jailed opposition leaders Zurab Japaridze for seven months and Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze for eight months for their failure to testify before a parliamentary commission tasked with investigating members of the former-ruling government.

Zurab Japaridze, leader of the Girchi – More Freedom party within the Coalition for Change (C4C), and Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze (no relation to Zurab), leaders of the Lelo party within the Strong Georgia bloc, have also been barred from holding public office for two years.

The verdicts were announced within hours of each other on June 23 and are the first convictions of opposition figures for refusing the summons of the incumbent Georgian Dream parliament’s investigative commission.

Zurab Japaridze has been in pre-trial since May 22 and did not appear in court, having likened the proceedings to a “circus”.

Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze gathered with party members, supporters and families at the Lelo offices to await their sentences.

Footage from local outlets showed dozens of police arriving at the Lelo headquarters on the evening of July 23 and leading the two opposition politicians out of the building in handcuffs.

“[If they] don’t recognise [the commission], they’ll go to prison!” stated Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, following the announcement of the sentences, as reported by Interpressnews. 

Several other opposition leaders charged with the same offence – Nika Melia and Nika Gvaramia of C4C and former UNM defence minister Irakli Okruashvili – are awaiting their verdict in pre-trial detention.

Giorgi Vashadze, one of the leaders of the Unity-UNM coalition, is out on bail and will be sentenced on June 24.

GD’s parliamentary commission

The parliament launched an investigative commission in February to probe what MPs claim to be “systemic” and “monstrous” “crimes” and abuses committed by officials of the former-ruling United National Movement, both during their time in government from 2003-12 but also since.

Critics of the incumbent Georgian Dream (GD) party argue the commission is essentially a tool of political persecution that the ruling party is using to outlaw opponents one by one.

Shortly after the commission was launched, GD announced that its findings would form a basis of evidence upon which to have UNM and its so-called “successor parties” declared unconstitutional and banned.

Outlawing the so-called “collective UNM” was one of GD’s main campaign pillars in the run up to Georgia’s contentious October 2024 parliamentary election, which the opposition accuse the ruling party of rigging.

With the exception of the For Georgia leader, Giorgi Gakharia, all opposition figures summoned to the commission so far have refused to appear and have had criminal cases opened against them.

Citing reports of violations at the October 2024 parliamentary elections, all four of Georgia’s major opposition blocs have declared they do not consider the Georgian Dream parliament to be legitimate, and subsequently do not recognise the commission.

“Non-recognition of Georgian Dream is our main weapon,” declared C4C leader, Helene Khoshtaria, following the Tbilisi City Court’s announcement of Japaridze’s verdict, as reported by Interpressnews. 

As per article 349 of the Georgian Criminal Code, “non-compliance with the request of the Parliament’s Temporary Investigative Commission” is punishable by up to a year imprisonment as well as a ban on holding political office for up to three years.

All the opposition figures who failed to attend their commission hearings were initially granted bail as a preventive measure.

Japaridze, along with Gvaramia and Melia, refused to pay, and were sent to pre-trial detention to await their verdict.

Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze and Vashadze did pay, although in the latter two’s cases this seems to have had no impact on the severity of sentence received.

Rulings on the other opposition figures, both those in pre-trial detention and those still free, are expected in the coming days.