Tblisi court sentences opposition leader Nika Gvaramia to eight months and prohibits him from holding office for two years. A Georgian court has sentenced high-profile opposition leader Nika Gvaramia to eight months in jail, as the crackdown against critics of the ruling party deepens. Gvaramia, co-leader of the opposition party Akhali, was also prohibited from office for two years.
The court handed down the sentence on Tuesday for failing to comply with a parliamentary commission investigating alleged crimes under former President Mikheil Saakashvili, a Western-oriented reformer who is serving a 12-and-a-half-year jail term.
Several other top rivals of Georgian Dream have also been arrested on the same charges as Gvaramia, such as Giorgi Vashadze, a former deputy justice minister, who was handed a seven-month jail term last week.
The crackdown has resulted in mounting accusations against the ruling party that it is crushing democracy during ongoing protests after disputed elections last year.
In an interview with the AFP news agency on Tuesday, Gvaramia’s lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili described the verdict against his client as “unlawful” and “part of the government’s effort to strangle all opposition in Georgia.”.
The British government on Monday condemned the jailing of opposition figures and summoned Georgia’s charge d’affaires. The jailing of senior opposition leaders is the latest move by the Georgian authorities to suppress freedoms and silence dissent,” the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office stated.
“The UK Government will not shy away from taking further action should Georgia fail to return to respecting and protecting democracy, freedoms and human rights,” it also added.
