Court rules to arrest Georgian opposition leader as anti-government protests continue
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A court in Georgia ordered opposition party leader Zurab Japaridze detained Thursday on charges of failing to appear before a parliamentary inquiry as protests continued against the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Demonstrators waving Georgian and European Union flags blocked the central thoroughfare in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, demanding new elections and the release of dissidents. Demonstrators have gathered there each night since Nov. 28, when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze halted the country’s EU integration process.
Ahead of Japaridze’s hearing Thursday at a courthouse in Tbilisi, police surrounded the facility to prevent his supporters from entering. Only a handful of people were allowed into the cramped hearing room, angering his supporters.
Two people were arrested, and Japaridze’s lawyers left in protest following a failed motion to move the proceedings to a larger room.
Japaridze, who heads the Girchi – More Freedom party, was detained after refusing to appear before a parliamentary commission investigating alleged wrongdoings by the government of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.
Opposition politicians have declined to attend the commission hearings, saying they are politically motivated by Georgian Dream to damage the opposition, particularly Saakashvili’s United National Movement party.
Speaking to reporters before the hearing, Japaridze said he knew that he would be arrested but that he did not recognize the legitimacy of Georgia’s current parliament or its commission.
“The regime is trying to kill the civil society,” Japaridze said. “They’re killing the opposition parties and this is just one example of what they are doing now.”
“We have to continue the fight; we have to go out to the streets. We will win this battle only from the street, because there are no democratic institutions holding elections in this country anymore.”
Japaridze and seven other opposition leaders who did not attend the commission are expected to appear before a court in coming days. If found guilty of failure to comply with a parliamentary investigative commission, they face up to a year imprisonment.
Political unrest
Georgia has seen widespread political unrest since the country’s last parliamentary election on Oct. 26, which was won by Georgian Dream. Protestors and the country’s opposition declared the result as illegitimate amid allegations of vote-rigging helped by Russia, sparking weeks of protests across the country.
At the time, opposition leaders vowed to boycott sessions of parliament until a new parliamentary election was held under international supervision and alleged ballot irregularities were investigated.
Georgian Dream has seen widespread condemnation by European leaders and international rights groups over its rough handling of protestors and perceived democratic backsliding.
When asked whether the United States would “impose real cost on the anti-American Georgian dream on behalf of the people of Georgia” at a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio replied: “Is it in our national interest to have an anti-American government governing an important part of the world? And if not, we’ll take appropriate actions to impose costs on that government.”
By SOPHIKO MEGRELIDZE
