A court docket in Georgia on Thursday put opposition chief Zurab Japaridze in pre-trial detention.The transfer comes as the federal government appears to crack down on its critics, following big protests final 12 months.
Why has Japaridze been jailed?
Japaridze is likely one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, which got here in second in a parliamentary election in 2024.Opposition events, together with the Coalition for Change, are boycotting the present legislature amid accusations that the ruling Georgian Dream social gathering rigged the vote in October.Japaridze had refused to look at an inquiry into alleged crimes dedicated between 2004 and 2012, through the time period of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili — who has since been jailed.Japaridze, who featured prominently on the street protests final 12 months, had additionally refused to pay bail and had been held in contempt by parliament. He has denounced the parliamentary probe as being illegitimate and of being unduly influenced by the ruling social gathering.His lawyer Irakli Chomakhashvili advised AFP that the court docket ruling is a “politically motivated resolution, an try and silence a important political voice.”Forward of the listening to, Japaraidze had slammed the “sham trial,” accusing Georgian Dream of main the Black Sea nation “into dictatorship.”Failure to look earlier than a parliamentary inquiry could be punished by as much as a 12 months in jail, in keeping with Georgia’s legal code.
What’s the scenario in Georgia?
Different opposition figures have additionally been accused of comparable offenses. They’ve additionally refused to look at hearings and have rejected the parliamentary inquiry as illegitimate.The opposition and authorities critics accuse Tbilisi of mimicking authoritarian ways employed by Moscow and steering the nation in the direction of Russia and away from Europe and its aspirations of becoming a member of the European Union.Whereas the federal government denies these allegations, final 12 months Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of the Georgian Dream social gathering postponed accession talks with Brussels till 2028.That call revived road protests that had rocked the nation in 2023 and 2024 after the federal government launched the Legislation on Transparency of International Affect — referred to by critics because the “Russian Legislation” — which requires NGOs to register as overseas brokers or “organizations carrying the pursuits of a overseas energy.”Georgia has had no formal ties with Russia since Moscow backed separatists in two breakaway provinces in 2008.
