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Al Jazeera
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Another opposition leader jailed in Georgia amid deepening crackdown
A court in Georgia has sentenced prominent opposition figure Nika Gvaramia to eight months in prison, amid a deepening crackdown on critics of the ruling Georgian Dream party. Gvaramia, the co-leader of the opposition Akhali party, was also barred from holding office for two years. The court imposed the sentence on Tuesday over his refusal to cooperate with a parliamentary commission tasked with investigating alleged wrongdoing under ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, a pro-Western reformer currently serving a 12-and-a-half-year prison term. Several other leading opponents of Georgian Dream have been jailed on similar charges to Gvaramia, including Giorgi Vashadze, a former deputy justice minister, who received a seven-month prison sentence last week. The crackdown has led to growing accusations against the governing party that it is trampling on democracy amid continuing protests in the wake of last year's disputed elections. Speaking to the AFP news agency on Tuesday, Gvaramia's lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili said the verdict against his client was 'unlawful' and 'part of the government's attempt to crush all dissent in Georgia'. Growing criticism The British government on Monday denounced the crackdown on opposition figures and summoned the country's charge d'affaires. 'The imprisonment of prominent opposition leaders is the latest attempt by the Georgian government to crack down on freedoms and stifle dissent,' the United Kingdom's Foreign Office said. 'The UK Government will not hesitate to consider further action should Georgia not return to respecting and upholding democracy, freedoms and human rights,' it added. The NGO Amnesty International also criticised the government, saying last week in reaction to Vashadze's sentencing that it had 'serious concerns over the misuse of legislative, policing and other powers to silence government critics in Georgia'. The human rights organisation specifically took aim at the parliamentary commission linked to the arrests of opposition figures. 'With its status disputed, the commission has been instrumentalised to target former public officials for their principled opposition,' said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty's deputy director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. After Georgian Dream claimed victory in a contested election in October, the European Union candidate nation experienced mass protests. Critics accuse the government of undermining democracy and of bringing the country close to Moscow, allegations the governing party denies. The EU has said some 80 percent of the population supports Georgia's bid to join the bloc, a commitment enshrined in its constitution. Amid allegations of democratic backsliding, the United States and several European countries have sanctioned some Georgian government officials.
Arab News
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Georgia jails another opposition figure in crackdown on dissent
TBILISI: Georgia on Tuesday jailed prominent opposition figure Nika Gvaramia for eight months, the latest in a wave of arrests targeting politicians, activists, and journalists critical of the ruling party. The EU candidate nation has been gripped by political unrest since the disputed parliamentary elections last October, when the ruling Georgian Dream party declared victory, sparking mass protests. Demonstrators accuse the ruling party, which shelved EU membership talks, of veering toward authoritarian rule and steering the country closer to Moscow — accusations the government rejects. On Tuesday, a Tbilisi court sentenced Gvaramia — the co-leader of the key opposition Akhali party — to eight months in prison and barred him from holding public office for two years, his lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili told AFP. 'The verdict is unlawful and part of the government's attempt to crush all dissent in Georgia,' he said. Gvaramia was sentenced for refusing to cooperate with a parliamentary commission investigating alleged abuses under imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili. Nearly all of Georgia's opposition leaders have been jailed this month on similar charges. Saakashvili, a pro-Western reformer, is currently serving a 12-and-a-half-year prison term on charges widely denounced by rights groups as politically driven. Opposition figures have rejected the commission's legitimacy, accusing the ruling Georgian Dream party of using it as a tool to suppress dissent. Amnesty International said last week that the 'disputed' commission 'has been instrumentalized to target former public officials for their principled opposition.' Ahead of last year's elections, Georgian Dream announced plans to outlaw all major opposition parties. Brussels has said Georgia's democratic backsliding derails it from its longstanding EU membership bid enshrined in the country's constitution and supported — according to opinion polls — by some 80 percent of the population. The United States and several European countries have imposed sanctions on some Georgian Dream officials.
